


Scylla and Charybdis

by sitabethel



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh
Genre: Euroshipping, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-27
Updated: 2015-10-28
Packaged: 2018-04-28 12:20:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5090543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sitabethel/pseuds/sitabethel
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Euroshipping/ Neither Bakura nor Kaiba have time for relationships because of their careers, so Ryou suggests something a little more business-casual than a relationship. However, after a few nights with Seto, he decides to re-negotiate terms. (Happy Birthday Revengineer . . . and I guess happy birthday Seto Kaiba as well).</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The meeting room always felt haunted at night. Only the hum of air conditioning, the click of Ryou typing on his laptop, and the ticking of a wall clock. Ryou suspected it was on purpose, the loud, outdated wall clock. Every Kaiba Corp employee had a laptop, and tablet, and digital watch synchronized with Kaiba's so that everyone ran on the exact same time down to the second. There was no need for something as antiquated as a wall clock - unless Kaiba wanted to use it as a reminder -  _time's ticking, time is money, my money._ Ryou smiled as he thought about it. He liked the subtle, strategic intimidation of it, how Kaiba always kept his lap dogs nervous and they never knew exactly  _why_  because they didn't have the analytical skills to see through such tactics.

Ryou did, however, and to him the ticking was a pleasant background noise, a metronome by which to pace himself. Ryou sighed, rubbing his temples for a moment before grabbing a bottle of water and using the liquid to wash down two excedrin. He brushed stray hairs from his face. He kept the white mess tied back at work, but the front always unravelled long before his shift ended.

The object of Ryou's earlier musings walked into the meeting room. He walked with purpose in a cream colored suit and cerulean shirt that matched his eyes. Kaiba almost missed Ryou as he marched passed, then he stopped and blinked once.

"Why are you here?"

Ryou frowned at the mess of code in front of him. "There's an unprecedented amount of bugs in our current project. I'm making sure we reach deadline regardless."

"You're not salary."

"We have a budget for overtime. I'm using it strategically."

Seto snorted. "If you're going to work like you're on salary, then perhaps you should be on salary. Starting tomorrow, you're head of development for Scylla and Charybdis"

"No," Ryou said.

"You're in no position to tell me no."

"I'm here to keep up with schedule, not brown nose for a promotion at the expense of one of my co-workers getting demoted."

"You're taking initiative, carrying the project on your own shoulders, and working salary hours. That's what leaders do, Bakura. It's imperative to my company that everyone gets placed in a position that will best suit the company."

"Changing leadership in the middle of a problematic project is bad for morale. I won't risk the project like that." Ryou frowned, saving his work for the third time since Seto walked in and setting his laptop aside. "If you want to promote me after this - fine, but fight me on this and jeopardize everything I've been working on and I will be working for Bethesda before the month is out, Kaiba. That is not a threat."

Seto smirked. "You always pretend to be so sweet around Yugi, but you're rather ruthless."

Ryou couldn't help but smile. Yugi was nsfw territory, so Ryou didn't comment, although Seto had brought it up. Instead, he stayed on the topic of business. "We're essentially trying to launch enough quality RPGs to run SquareEnix out of business. I would say I can't afford to be anything less than ruthless."

"SquareEnix was rather specific. Why not Aultus?"

Ryou narrowed his gaze. "You know perfectly well why I said SquareEnix."

A light, almost imperceivable laugh escaped Seto's mouth. "Fine. After the project expect a formal promotion." He straightened a cufflink. "Any other business we should take care before I go?"

Ryou started at Kaiba, calculating odds. In the end, Ryou decided to be bold. "One last thing, actually. I think we should sleep together."

Seto's expression didn't change. There was no other indication that he heard Ryou except for the fact that he sat in the chair in front of Ryou so that they could stare eye-level at each other. "Repeat that."

"I think," Ryou began, "that it would be in both our best interests if we had sex with each other."

"Casual sex?"

"More like business-casual sex."

Seto's blue eyes stayed fixed on Ryou, neither one of them so much as blinked at the other. "Explain your reasoning."

"As it stands, neither one of us have the time or resources to invest in a intimate relationship. Be that as it may, sex has a lot of benefits. It relieves stress, and studies have shown that people who have sex regularly live longer and get sick less; further studies have found that boxers demonstrated improved performance if they had sex before a fight." Ryou leaned closer. "But trying to find a casual partner is difficult, and high risk. Bars and internet dating sites can be dangerous, and even if they weren't - they're still time consuming. On the other hand, we already know each other. We're both discrete so we wouldn't have to worry about rumors - which is more important for you than myself. We're both career focused, so neither one of us will mind when work interferes with plans. You'll never have to remember an anniversary or birthday, and we won't have to worry about emotions complicating things because this will be a convenient business relationship and not some childish romance."

"You've thought this through."

"A passing thought that flits through my mind from time to time; however the opportunity to broach the topic has never appeared before." Ryou shrugged. "I decided to roll the dice."

Ryou stared at the marble table by which they sat, waiting for Seto to scoff and reject him. In the corner of his eye, Ryou noticed Seto stand up. He didn't expect Seto to sit in his lap, but he felt the warmth and weight of Seto's body sink into Ryou's legs. Ryou looked at Seto, and Seto rested his hands against Ryou's cheeks.

Seto leaned forward and kissed Ryou. Ryou didn't have time to analyze the situation or devise an appropriate strategy, so he acted on instinct, leaning into the kiss and deepening it.

Seto pulled away. "Tomorrow night, 6:30. My place, dinner first."

"Dinner's not necessary."

Seto frowned. "I'd prefer there was some prelude. Consider it a business dinner."

Ryou nodded, licking his lips from uncouth habit, telling himself to act more professional though it was hard with searing blue staring seemingly  _through_  him. "Very well."

Seto stood. "I really must go, and you should get off my clock."

Ryou pursed his lips. "One more bug, then I'll go."

* * *

The mansion was intimidating. Ryou paid his cab driver and walked up to the wrought iron gates. A security guard in his own little brick chateau opened the gate for Ryou and escorted him to a second guard in a golf cart. The second man drove Ryou to the front doors - the driveway long enough to justify the use of a cart.

At the door a butler escorted Ryou to the dining room. Here, he finally saw Seto. He sat at a table, much smaller than Ryou imagined, working on something at his laptop. Ryou smiled. He'd brought his laptop to get some work done as well.

If invited to dinner by anyone else, Ryou would have brought a bottle of wine or a basket of fruit, some sort of polite token of appreciation. With Seto, he knew better. Anything Ryou brought would be cheap compared to what Seto already had, and the any gesture of gratitude for dinner would be tolerated by Seto but not welcomed, so there was no need.

"I imagined your table would be long enough to seat fifty people with antique, silver candlesticks, and maybe you'd be dressed up like Dracula and sitting in a throne."

"There's a formal dining room for large events." Seto didn't look up from his screen.

Ryou sat down and opened his own laptop, pulling up a new mess of code for him to try and clean up. They worked in comfortable silence until the first course arrived, beef consomme. Next, a servant brought tuna and salmon sashimi as an appetizer, followed by salad for the third course. The main dish was lamb with green beans and whipped potatoes. Just as before the meal, they ate in silence, their keyboards clicking out a conversation to each other to compensate for the lack of verbal communication.

Ryou smiled at dessert, three beautiful chocolate sea shells. For this, he turned off his computer.

"You have a sweet tooth?" Seto asked when he noticed Ryou stored his computer in its leather case.

Ryou felt his cheeks warm. He stared at his computer case. "Yes. Dessert's my greatest weakness."

He still didn't look away from his monitor, but Seto slid his own plate towards Ryou.

Ryou's cheeks went from warm to hot. "I really couldn't."

"I know politeness is part of your nature, Bakura, but you should refrain from it in my presence."

Ryou opted for not answering, nibbling on the first of his three shells. He forced himself not to moan, but couldn't help snatching one of Seto's chocolates once his own were gone. A ghost of a smile haunted the corner of Seto's mouth when he saw Ryou succumb to the temptation.

"Please eat one so I don't feel like a pig," Ryou said, internally refusing to take another chocolate unless Seto ate the last one.

Without argument or comment, Seto reached for his plate and plucked a shell from it's porcelain sea. He stuffed the entire thing in his mouth like it was any other chocolate. Ryou, however, savored the last one, taking small bites to stretch out the dessert.

When finished, Ryou studied Seto, watching the way the mocha colored bangs fell across his forehead as his mako-blue eyes glowed with the reflection of the laptop screen. Those eyes lifted up and caught Ryou's gaze.

"Are you ready?"

Ryou shrugged, looking away and toying with the tips of his hair. "Whenever you are. I'm not bored, so don't worry if you need to finish some more work."

Seto closed his laptop and stood up. Ryou swallowed, standing up as well and feeling his heart flutter in his chest, as if remembering that he was shy. Seto offered a hand and Ryou blinked at it for a moment before taking it in his own. Seto's palm was soft, warm, and dry. Ryou brushed the pad of his thumb across Seto's wrist. The delicate caress brought Seto's eyes back to Ryou's, and again Ryou looked away.

Several doors and hallways later, Ryou found himself in Seto Kaiba's bedroom. Candlelight softened the room. Ryou smiled at the oddly romantic gesture, wondering if candlelight was a sort of kink for Seto. It did set the mood.

Ryou trembled a little, out of his element. Although the idea to have sex belonged to him, Ryou felt bashful. He was, by nature, affectionate, and not the sort for one night stands. Seto broke the stillness in the air by grabbing Ryou's shoulders, pulling their chests together. Ryou inhaled a quick gasp at the movement, melting a little against the heat of Seto's body. He reached up shaking fingers and worked the knot out of Seto's tie. He felt Seto's breath against his scalp and suddenly became self-conscious about the scent of his shampoo, wondering if it was pleasant, or annoying, or faded to the point that Seto didn't even notice.

After liberating Seto's tie, Ryou fumbled down the row of buttons on Seto's silk shirt. His nervousness evaporated, replaced with mounting anticipation. When he reached Seto's belt, he loosed the buckle and unbuttoned and zipped down Seto's pants so that he could free the rest of the shirt and finish removing it. Ryou held the silk blouse, belt, and tie in his arms.

"Where do I place these?" He would not toss clothes that cost more that his paycheck on the floor - spontaneity and lust be damned.

Seto gestured with his chin towards the bedroom closet. Ryou found a rack for the belt and tie, and a laundry shoot for the shirt. He turned around and started when he realized Seto had followed him. Seto pulled Ryou's shirt away from his chest, also tossing it down the laundry shoot.

"Wait, I should keep my clothes." Ryou stared at the shoot, wondering where his shirt ended up.

"It'll be taken care of." A touch of a smirk crossed Seto's lips and he added Ryou's pants and boxers to the laundry.

Ryou let the issue go, preoccupied with removing Seto's slacks. He stared a moment. There was something perverse about staring at the world renowned Seto Kaiba in nothing but an undershirt and boxers, perverse . . . and endearing, as if he were human after all, underwear and all.

"What?" Seto asked.

"You're cute." Ryou smiled, tugging the undershirt up, but he couldn't easily reach over Seto's head.

Seto took over when he saw Ryou stand on his toes. He also removed his own boxers. Once they were both bare he took Ryou's shoulders a second time. He walked backwards, dragging Ryou forward towards the bed. He spun their positions around, laying Ryou down on a thick, goose down comforter. Ryou sighed as he sank into the blanket and mattress. Seto lay posed above Ryou, using the palm of his right hand to trail down Ryou's side, studying him.

Ryou reached out a tentative hand and did the same, exploring Seto's lank, slender frame. Gooseflesh puckered across Seto's ribs and stomach. Ryou hoped it meant that Seto was as nervous as Ryou was.

Seto drifted down, down, closer to Ryou's body until his lips caressed Ryou's chest. Ryou arched up, sighing. Seto's precise kisses drew a line from Ryou's chest to his shoulder, and then from his shoulder down his arm. Seto ended by holding Ryou's wrist as he kissed the tips of Ryou's fingers. As Seto kissed Ryou's fingertips, he stared at Ryou with his intense, blue eyes, and it turned Ryou's belly into taro jelly.

Seto gave Ryou's pointer finger a final, quick suck before he released Ryou's hand and leaned over to a nightstand near his bed. He pulled out a large plug, and a small bottle with a blue label. Seto drizzled the clear gel onto his erection.

Ryou chuckled. "That's the same brand I buy. I'm disappointed, Kaiba. I expected something in a crystal vial and coated in crushed diamonds."

Seto didn't verbally respond as he greased up the butt plug in his hand, but a little wisp of smile acknowledged Ryou's lighthearted teasing.

Ryou's own smile brightened. "Is that a grin I see? A real fucking grin? Holy shit, I just made Seto Kaiba almost smile." Ryou relaxed onto his back and sighed. "I don't even need an orgasm anymore. Nothing's going to be as satisfying as that girn."

Ryou arched a little when he felt cold lube-slick plastic press against his entrance. "Oh?" Seto asked. His voice wasn't expressive, but he still had the partial grin that made him boyishly handsome. "Mind if I still have one?"

"Might as well." Ryou winked at him. "We already went through all the trouble of taking off our clothes."

Ryou closed his eyes when the plug moved inside of him. He always thought it strange, how using a toy on himself felt good, but when a lover used a toy on him it felt like every nerve came alive inside him. Ryou's right hand shot out, and he traced lazy lines up and down his shaft. The pleasure mounted and rose within him sooner than Ryou was used to. He tried to remember the last time he'd taken a night off for pleasure, but couldn't. His career had consumed him the last several years. Ryou didn't see it as a bad thing, he loved his work and plunged himself into it wholeheartedly, but he'd forgotten how much he also enjoyed  _this._

Seto pulled the plug away and Ryou moaned at the loss. Seto leaned over Ryou, staring at him. Ryou blushed. Even in the dim candlelight, Seto's eyes were too intense to bear the sight of them for long.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Y-yes," Ryou answered, his nervousness creeping back into his gut as blue eyes penetrated him.

Seto closed his eyes and kissed Ryou. A little moan escaped Ryou's mouth as he returned the kiss. Ryou's fingers slipped into Seto's hair. The strands were fine and delicate, but the hair itself was thick and heavy like a million silk threads slipping through Ryou's fingers.

Then Seto slipped inside of Ryou; Ryou screamed. Embarrassed, Ryou clamped a hand over his mouth, reducing his noises to muted moans.

Seto grinned again. "You don't have to be quiet. The servants are off duty this late."

Ryou struggled to catch his breath as Seto moved inside him. "Isn't your brother around?"

"He's studying in Oxford."

"Oh," Ryou said, a response to Seto, but right afterward he said it again as a exclamation of pleasure. " _Oh_!" Ryou wrapped his slender, white legs around Seto's waist and flung his arms around Seto's neck. "It's been too long."

Seto acknowledged Ryou's statement with a grunt, focusing on his mild, consistent rhythm instead of words. Ryou could tell Seto held back, and suspected that it'd been as long for Seto as it had for himself. Neither one of them wanted to rush, to go off like an inexperienced teenager, so they held close and stuck to a slow pace. Each thrust was soothing, like the repetition of ocean waves, and Ryou allowed the pace to lull him into a near hypnotic state of mind.

Seto drew the experience out for a long time, but his breathing began to stutter in his throat, and Ryou knew he ached to finish. Ryou's own need twitched as Seto's stomach continued to rub against it. The weight of Seto's body dragging back and forth was almost enough to bring Ryou to climax without stroking, but not quite, so Ryou slipped his hand between them.

Ryou screamed. This time he didn't censor the noise. His legs squeezed tighter around Seto's body and he screamed again.

Seto made a little hum of approval. He nuzzled against Ryou's neck and started kissing the sweat-slick, white skin on Ryou's throat. It was sweet, too sweet, something about the affectionate gesture made all the swelling pleasure in Ryou's belly peak and he came hard,  _hard_ onto both of their bodies. Stars and flashes of yellow danced between Ryou's shut lids as he came, and his heartbeat drummed in his ears.

Seto pressed himself closer to Ryou as soon as Ryou finished. His sweat tickled Ryou's body, but Ryou only moaned as Seto thrust. Seto held onto Ryou's shoulders for support, going faster, but not harder, and when he came, he hid his face in Ryou's hair. Again, the unspoken tenderness of the gesture moved Ryou, and he found himself reaching up with trembling fingers and combing Seto's soft hair again.

"I should probably fetch my laptop and get some work done," Ryou muttered, more to himself than to Seto. He'd meant to take the laptop with him, but forgot it because he'd been too nervous and eager to get to Seto's bed.

Seto made a noise into Ryou's hair, but Ryou couldn't read it. He realized he was drifting off with Seto still pressed on top of him. Ryou felt a little panicked. This wasn't how he imagined sex with Kaiba would be like - dinner, candlelight, subtle, affectionate gestures. Something inside Ryou craved such things, yearned for them with ravenous hunger, and he wished that Seto hadn't stirred the need within him. He was going to get attached without meaning to. He'd already enjoyed the sex too much for his own good; he didn't need to fall asleep in Seto's arms.

But as he lay there, listening to Seto's calm, already asleep breaths, Ryou didn't have the heart to move. He wrapped his thin, milk pale arms around Seto's back, and sank into a deep, satisfied sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Ryou woke with a start to sunlight. Seto stood in a thick bathrobe near the window with the curtains drawn, staring outside with a thoughtful gaze on his face. When he noticed Ryou, he acknowledged him with a slight nod.

"What time is it?" Ryou asked.

"Half past seven."

"Shit." Ryou scrambled out of his palace of feather down and silk. "I'm going to be late if I don't move my ass. Can I use your shower?"

Seto gestured to a door across from the bed.

"Thanks." Ryou dashed towards the door, a little sore but in a pleasant way.

He felt sort of guilty using Seto's shower. He didn't wash his hair, but the body wash alone looked so luxurious that Ryou felt like he owed Seto just for one use of it. He knew Seto didn't care, five hundred yen and five million yen were about the same to Kaiba, and the damn bodywash was probably something he hadn't even picked out himself. It was more likely that some attendant chose it, ordered it, and had a maid change out the bottles when necessary, but Ryou couldn't help but feel a little guilty using it despite knowing better.

He exited the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his waist and his hair tied in a knot behind him. Seto stood at the foot of the bed, watching Ryou. A simple, but work appropriate, suit lay against the sheets and Ryou could tell it was meant for him by the size of the clothes.

Seto pointed to a travel case. "Your clothes have been laundered and stored in here. I had my butler procure this for today." Seto gestured to the suit.

Ryou blushed. "I keep an extra suit in my office for emergencies."

"This isn't an emergency."

Ryou shifted his eyes to the window, the light drawing him as he looked for a distraction. "Kaiba ... thankyou, of course, but please don't make this a habit. I'm not a doll; don't dress me."

Seto merely shrugged. "It was practical. You being late for work is bad for Kaiba Corp."

"I hadn't meant to stay," Ryou confessed. "It was my fault. I should have considered the possibility." He walked up to the bed and began to change into the offered suit. "Thank you."

"You weren't going to stay?" Seto asked.

"Not originally. I had work to do." Ryou felt self-conscious dressing in front of Kaiba, but didn't want to waste time going back to the bathroom. Ryou tied his hair back like he always did for work. He turned, facing Seto. "I had a nice night." Ryou smiled. "Sorry, I'd stay longer, but my boss is a real asshole who doesn't accept tardiness."

Seto sniffed at the jab. He lifted up his hand, holding Ryou's cheek so he couldn't leave. "When are we doing this again?"

Ryou felt his face flush from the way Seto held it. "Um ... Saturday? I work a half day and then I'm off Sunday so I'll be less rushed."

"Dinner again."

Ryou blinked, realizing that it wasn't a question. "Sure. I have to go now."

He turned away and rushed out the room, hearing Seto's voice as he left. "Quit using so much overtime, Bakura!"

"Then program your own damn game, Kaiba!" Ryou shouted back. He made it to work with five minutes to spare.

Ryou felt energetic throughout the day. He credited most of his energy to the extra sleep. When Ryou returned to his apartment that evening, however, he couldn't help but sigh at his dinner options. Cupped noodles, microwave suppers, and prepackaged bento were the only things in his kitchen, and after dinner with Seto the night before, none of it looked satisfying.

Ryou settled for a cup of shrimp ramen and a pint of Ice cream. He worked on his laptop as he ate and then went to sleep for the night. Ryou expect to fall straight asleep, but instead he tossed and turned.

Ryou ended up laying on his back and staring sleepless at the ceiling. With the day wound down, little flashes of memory kept assailing his mind. The dance of candlelight against the walls, the feel of a body between his legs, Ryou's breathing grew shallow with each new thought. He closed his eyes and turned his head to the side, as if to shake away his thoughts, but they were embedded into his brain, seared into the memory of his nerves, and he couldn't escape them.

Sexually charged dreams filled Ryou's sleep. Everything was shadows and candlelight in Ryou's mind. The upcoming days flashed quick like the flare of a lit match, but the nights dragged. When the weekend finally arrived, Ryou had to force himself to walk, not run, through Kaiba's mansion and to the dining room. When Ryou entered the room, Seto's blue eyes peeked over the top of his computer.

Ryou sat down in the same chair as his last visit, watching Seto work. Ryou didn't want dinner. He wanted to say something to Seto. He wanted to reach over and suck on Seto's bottom lip. He wanted be thrown on the table and stripped bare. He'd been so wound up since their first night together that Ryou couldn't sleep, and when he did, all he dreamed about was Seto's bedroom. Ryou blamed himself, for shutting himself away from any kind of intimacy for so long. Like a man dying of thirst, Ryou wanted to throw himself into an oasis - even if he drowned.

"I got a report on Scylla and Charybdis today. Apparently everything is going smoothly. Mind telling me your opinion?"

Ryou snorted. "By the release date, everything will be butter, but I won't be catching up on my beauty sleep any time soon."

Seto closed his laptop. "I need to know where Scylla and Charybdis truly stands, Bakura. Extending the release date is inexcusable; however, throwing our first game into the current market full of bugs would be a complete disaster."

Ryou pursed his lips, setting up his laptop. "That's not going to happen. I'm making sure of it."

"Then why am I paying an entire developing team?"

"To write the code while I go behind them and fix all the errors. It's the most efficient way, considering," Ryou said even as he worked.

They ate salad, soup, the main course. Then Seto asked, "What would you have said in your report?"

Ryou didn't think much about it, his attention on endless rows of functions. "I would have started with all the positive aspects to build up my audience, then explain any problems, then explain plans of action to fix said issues along with secondary solutions to handle predictable hiccups that may occur while trying to fix the primary concerns. Finally, I'd end my report by bringing everyone back to the main goal and reminding them about our vision for the finished product."

"You said you'd plan for predictable hiccups, but what about the unforeseen problems?"

"I always have multiple scenarios and possible solutions planned out in my head, but a status meeting doesn't need to hear third and fourth contingency plans. You asked what I would have said in a report, not how prepared I am to make Scylla and Charybdis work."

"Bakura."

"Yes?" Ryou asked as he typed.

"Look at me."

Ryou glanced above his screen, feeling the weight of Seto's attention."

"Do you honestly not see why you need to lead this project?"

Ryou went back to his functions. "I don't want to talk about this, Kaiba."

"I won't promote you until afterward as we agreed upon, but I want you to understand  _why_  I want to promote you."

"I'm really not that great."

"On that we disagree."

Ryou looked back up, blushing. "Did you just compliment me?"

"No. This has nothing to do with vanity. This is an assessment of skill."

At that moment dessert arrived, a miniature mountain of creampuffs."

"You bastard," Ryou whispered. "You researched me."

"You said you liked desserts. I wanted to know your favorite."

"Did you ever think to  _ask me_?"

"I wasn't going to see you again until today. "

Ryou stood up, pacing as counting off options on his fingers."

"You have my email, you could text me, or call me." He stopped in front of Seto, crossing his arms and over his chest and frowning. "It's really not fair. I dont have the resources to investigate you on a whim. It's cheating."

Seto's face stayed neutral. He stood up as well, looking down at Ryou because of his height. "You implied this was more business than pleasure. I did not think it appropriate to  _text message_ you."

Ryou opened his mouth to argue, but then he realized Seto was right. He tried to think of a retort, but Seto's searing blue eyes made it hard.

He felt himself blushing. "You can . . . If you want. I . . ." Ryou looked away. "Didn't think the term friends with benefits would appeal to you when I made the proposition."

Seto grabbed Ryou's shoulders. "You're right."

Ryou reached up then and grabbed Seto's hair, pulling him down for a harsh, opened-mouthed kiss. Seto moaned, and Ryou shoved his tongue into Seto's mouth. Seto stiffened for a second, and then ran his own tongue against Ryou's. Seto's fingers fumbled with the buttons on Ryou's shirt. They stumbled sideways, hitting the table edge.

Ryou whined through his nose, mouth still locked against Seto's. They were grabbing at each other, trying to rip off clothes and reach the flesh beneath. Ryou broke the kiss, his voice harsh from want as he spoke. "Your room."

Seto nodded, forgetting his laptop and he marched through the door. Ryou thought of his laptop, but at the last second, grabbed the plate of cream puffs instead. Ryou set the plate down on the night stand, rushing towards the laundry shoot and shoving his clothes away. Candlelight bounced off the walls again. The sight made Ryou eager to begin.

"We could have waited until you finished dessert."

"You're dessert," Ryou said, slipping out of his boxers. "Those are post dessert recovery food."

Seto frowned. "You can't eat those in bed."

Ryou laughed, stalking towards Seto. "Why not?"

"Because . . . it's . . . I mean, that's why we have tables. A dining room is for eating and a bed is for sleeping."

"Sleeping is not what we're about to use the bed for." Ryou tilted his head, Seto seemed oddly flustered. Ryou reached Seto, leaning against his chest and rubbing small circles on Seto's lower back. "Are those your rules . . . or Gozaburo's?"

Seto made a pained sound.

Ryou planted three gentle kisses on Seto's chest on either side of the locket Seto always wore. "Kaiba . . ."

"What?" His voice was harsh, pre-defensive.

"Take me," Ryou whispered. He looked up as Seto looked down. Ryou licked his lips, slow and intentional. "Take me right now."

They forgot about the cream puffs as Seto lifted Ryou up into the air and rested him down onto the bed. His clothes ended up in a neat, folded pile on the other nightstand before he slipped between Ryou's legs, grinding as he sucked on Ryou's neck.

Ryou lifted his hips to catch every subtle brush of Seto's body as they ground together. He turned his head to the side, giving Seto free reign over his neck. Seto's kisses traveled down to Ryou's chest. He kissed between each of the five, white scars and down Ryou's sensitive belly. When he reached Ryou's hips, Ryou hitched up in desperation.

"Oh Kaiba," Ryou whispered as his body jerked up in pleasure. "Kaiba."

From the folds of duvet, Seto pulled out the lube and plug he'd used last time. He slipped the toy up Ryou's ass, making Ryou call out, but not nearly as loud as when Seto bent down again and wrapped his mouth around Ryou's cock.

" _Ah_!" Ryou hitched up again, pressing himself deeper towards the back of Seto's throat.

Between the plug and blowjob Ryou went ferrel with desire. He started bucking hard, reaching out and twisting his long, slender fingers into Seto's chestnut locks.

"Kaiba! Don't stop! Please, don't stop!"

He didn't stop, angling the plug towards Ryou's prostate in order to make Ryou call out louder.

"Yes! Kaiba yes!"

Ryou wrapped his long, willowy legs around Seto's neck, his thighs pressed against Seto's ears."

"Yes! Yes! Kaiba! Kai-ah! Seto! Seto! Seto! I'm gonna cum!"

Ryou only half noticed that he'd switched to Seto's first name. He was too busy trying to warn Seto before his orgasm left him speechless, but Seto didn't stop or pull back. Ryou came into his mouth, shuddering as he felt Seto swallow.

Seto pulled the plug out as Ryou's legs dropped down to the mattress.

Ryou looked away. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say your name so informally. I-"

Seto lunged on top of him, shoving his tongue into Ryou's mouth. Ryou grabbed Seto's back, moaning into the kisses and tasting himself on Seto's tongue. When Seto pressed into Ryou's body, Ryou's nails raked across Seto's back.

Ryou closed his eyes, still moaning, still seeing faint yellow candlelight flickering even with his lids shut. Seto moved faster than their first time, harder. Ryou's nails dragged against Seto's skin again and again. Seto growled, going harder each time Ryou mauled him. He bent down, passing his lips against the shell of Ryou's ear.

"Ryou," he said, voice rough and deliberate.

Ryou arched upward as Seto came. Afterward, Ryou smoothed his fingers over the welts on Seto's back. "Does it hurt?"

"I'm fine."

"I should treat it, don't you think?"

Seto chuckled. "Is this my aftercare?"

Ryou snorted. "I'd hardly call myself your dom. I just . . . got a little excited."

Seto's mako-blue eyes glowed in the dark. "I didn't mind. Maybe next time I'll get you very excited."

"Maybe you should handcuff me to the bed so I can't scratch you." Ryou laughed.

Seto propped his head up with his hand. "Would you like me to?"

Ryou blinked. "Would I like you to handcuff me?"

"That was the question, yes."

Ryou's breath caught in his throat. He thought about what it would feel like, to strain against metal while Seto moved inside of him, and Ryou found that he liked the idea. "Yes. I'd let you."

"I don't want you to let me unless you'd  _like_  it."

"I've never done it before, honestly, but It sounds interesting."

"Is there anything else you want to try?"

Ryou's dark eyes flashed in the candlelight as he turned to face Seto, his arm also propping up his head. "Well, I always wanted to see what hot candle wax felt like. C-could you do that when you handcuffed me? Maybe blindfolded?"

Seto reached out, tracing Ryou's lips with his fingertips. "When?"

"Next Saturday?" Ryou flushed at the thought of his last week of sultry dreams and cold showers. "But I'd like to see you again before then - if you're not busy."

"Wednesday?"

Ryou nodded, blinking for a moment as he thought. "What do you want to try?"

Seto pulled his fingers away from Ryou's lips. He diverted his eyes to the sheets, drawing designs with the tip of his finger. "Those swings always looked interesting."

"We can try that the Saturday after." Out of nervous habit, Ryou also toyed with the sheets. Their fingers brushed together and Ryou felt himself blushing when the touch made them look up at each other. "We're kind of vanilla as far as kink goes, aren't we?"

Seto shrugged his top shoulder. "No one's ever stuck around long enough for the topic to be broached."

"Why me, then? I mean, why ask me?"

A smile toyed with the corner of Seto's mouth. "You're the kind of person that brings creampuffs to bed and scratches hard . . . and you're the only person that's ever called out my name like I was anyone else and  _not_  a rich executive."

"My creampuffs." Ryou rolled over and snatched two from the plate. He shoved one into his own mouth and pressed the other one towards Seto. The CEO shied away, but after a moment succumbed and opened his mouth. Ryou crammed the entire pastry into Seto's mouth.

"That's good. I don't like sweets, but those aren't overbearing."

Ryou licked whipped cream from the side of his finger and stood up. He used the toilet and rummaged through Seto's medicine cabinet until he found an, unopened, tube of neosporin. Ryou stared at it. Seto's cabinet behind the bathroom mirror had a little bit of everything but none of it, like the neosporin, was used. Again, it made Ryou think of some attendant stocking the bathroom based on what they expected Seto to have instead of what he actually needed.

Going back to Seto's enormous bed, they finished off the creampuffs, and the Ryou rubbed neosporin over the deeper scratch marks. "I knew I was scratching . . . but I had no idea I was scratching  _this hard_. You should have said something, Seto."

Ryou held his breath after speaking, wondering why he kept slipping up and using Seto's first name.

Seto glanced over his shoulder. "I took it as an indication that I was performing well."

Ryou laughed, setting the ointment on the nightstand. "Had I known how amazing you were in bed, I would have asked you to sleep with me twenty years ago when we were teenagers."

Seto snorted. "I would have turned you down twenty years ago."

"Oh thanks, that's nice." Ryou laughed.

Seto shrugged again, the sheets bunched up around his lap. "The idea of a physical relationship didn"t appeal to me until much later."

"That makes sense." Ryou laid on his back, staring up at the canopy.

"Does it?" Seto laid beside him. "It never made sense to me."

"You were conditioned to be distant and sterile towards people. Sex is sort of the opposite of that."

Seto made a thoughtful noise, closing his eyes. Ryou stared at him for a moment, smiling at how adorable he looked when his hair was trashed and his eyes were closed, before he also fell asleep.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Ryou woke up groggy and  _hard_. He shifted a little, wanting friction against his erection. His half-sleeping mind expected the familiar rub of cotton bedsheets, but instead he brushed smooth, warm skin. Ryou sighed, shifting a little more to repeat the sensation. When Seto responded to the stimulation with a soft grunt, Ryou woke up enough to realize where he was and who he was with.

Ryou wrapped his arm around Seto's body, spooning them together and gliding his fingers down Seto's stomach and near his pelvis. Seto sighed, nudging into Ryou's touch, and then pressing back so that Ryou's erection could rubbed against Seto's backside again. Growing bold from the encouragement, Ryou toyed with Seto's balls, drawing a moan from Seto. When he slipped his fingers up to Seto's shaft, he noticed that Seto was equally hard.

Ryou turned Seto from his side to his back, climbing on top of his and kissing his chest.

"Goodmorning," Seto muttered, eyes slitting open but still sleepy.

"It's about to be," Ryou teased. He found the bottle of lube on the floor, and he grabbed it and poured a fresh layer on top of Seto's erection. He felt grungy from the night before; however, Ryou didn't see the point of cleaning up until afterward. He impaled himself on Seto's cock, gasping and closing his eyes. He didn't prep. It hadn't been long enough since their last time to bother, so Ryou sat a moment, giving himself time to adjust before pulling up and settling back down.

Seto groaned, voice rusty with sleep. Ryou kept his eyes closed as he buoyed up and down. He focused on the feel of his belly as he moved his body, and the feel of Seto's cock teasing the nerves inside of him. Ryou started panting, moving with quick jerks of his hips.

"Damn." He gasped, heart striking his ribs and lungs as he strained for breath.

"Don't stop." Seto grabbed Ryou's hips and guided the pace.

Ryou reached for himself and began to stroke. He wasn't close, but he wanted the double feeling of being filled and stimulated both at once. The hair fell into his face, but Ryou couldn't bother pushing it out of the way.

"Ryou," Seto whispered, making Ryou's name sound haunted. His grip on Ryou's hips tightened. "Ryou, Ryou, Ryou!"

"Seto!" Ryou echoed Seto's named back to him. They were like kids discovering swearing for the first time, words previously forbidden to them strange and wonderful in their mouths as they called them out.

Seto brought up his knees, forcing Ryou to bend forward, his free hand and knees keeping him upright. Seto dug his heels into the bed and pushed up, thrusting into Ryou from below. Ryou stopped his own hips, Seto's pace too quick and their new posture too awkward for Ryou to move. The angel was good, though, and jolts of heat shot through Ryou's groin as Seto hiked into him. Seto gave a shout. Ryou couldn't remember ever hearing Seto's voice get that loud. Perhaps during Battle City when he fought Yugi's other half, when Ryou was never all himself, but this was the first time that Ryou  _himself_ heard Seto shout.

Seto slowed down, then stopped, lowering his hips. Ryou sat upright once again, using both hands to tug at himself until he, too, shouted out loud. Finished, Ryou hunched over Seto's chest, catching his breath.

"Can I use your shower again?"

"You don't have to ask."

Ryou slipped out of bed, wincing a little. "Oh man, I'm going to be sore."

Seto turned away. "We can switch if we need to."

Ryou toyed with the ends of his hair. "Want to swap next time just to try it?"

Seto nodded, eyes staring at a ficus plant in the corner of the room.

"Okay." Ryou looked around the room, remembering his clothes were in the laundry and his laptop case and travel bag were in the dining room. "Damnit. I left my bag at the table."

"You have a robe now." Seto's words fell from his mouth like Autumn leaves fell to the ground, slow and gentle. It was as if he didn't want Ryou to hear him.

Ryou frowned, "You didn't have to."

"It's hanging from the bathroom door next to mine."

"Okay." Then, Ryou added as an afterthought. "Thankyou."

Seto grunted. It made Ryou smile a touch as he took his robe down from its hook and wrapped himself up in it's softness. He searched the dining room, finding his things where he left them. Ryou grabbed both his and Seto's laptops as well as his overnight bag before returning to Seto's room. He set Seto's laptop on the nightstand beside him and brushed his fingers through Seto's brown hair.

"I would have never guessed, you know?"

"Guessed what?" Seto asked, half dozing.

"What a hopeless romantic you are when it comes down to it."

Seto cracked one eye open. "Hopeless romantic? How do you figure?"

Ryou sighed, thinking. "You always insist on dinner first, and there's the candlelight, and the creampuffs - no one else would have bothered figuring out my favorite dessert - even the bathrobe. "

Seto opened both eyes, staring at Ryou, his face a mask. "Does it bother you?"

"No," Ryou whispered, sitting on the edge on the bed next to Seto. "But it hurts a little."

Seto propped himself up on his elbows. "Hurts? How so?"

"I . . ." Ryou paused. "I'm really sentimental, so every time you do something like that it means a lot."

"That's the point." Seto looked down as if ashamed of his own words.

Ryou took Seto's chin and lifted it up. "If that is the case, Mr. Kaiba, then I would like to renegotiate our arrangement."

Concerned flashed in Seto's blue eyes. "What do you mean?"

Ryou kept his gaze. "Our current deal is for casual sex, correct?"

"I believe you used the term business-casual."

"Yes, but now I'd like to upgrade to a proper romance."

The faintest hint of smile broke out across Seto's lips. "But Ryou, didn't you insinuate that romances were childish?"

Ryou shrugged. "I was trying to get into your pants by impressing you with my callous logic."

"Yes. I seem to remember that plan working."

"But the one thing I didn't calculate into my plans was you being a total sweetheart."

"I could sue you for slander if you ever said that in public."

"But I never would. That's why this could work."

Seto looked away. "You'll get tired of nights alone when I'm at meetings and the secrecy and eventually leave."

Ryou laughed but it was soft and gentle, not mocking. "I've been working for Kaiba Corp for over fifteen years. I'm well aware of the kind of schedule to expect. That was one of the more appealing aspects of our relationship even when it was meant to be casual." Ryou lay beside Seto. "And I've never been keen about others knowing anything about my romantic life anyway. You're not the only one with a reputation to protect."

"So how would we do this? How would it be different?"

Ryou shrugged, his hand resting on Seto's bare chest. "I don't know. We'll have to experiment, I suppose."

"Were the handcuffs not experimental enough for you?"

"Ha ha." Ryou poked Seto's chest. "I'm taking my shower now."

Ryou ran the shower until it started to steam, slipping his robe off and hanging it back on its proper hook. Ryou sighed when the hot water struck his shoulders. He splashed his face, and allowed the water to course over his scalp, soaking his hair.

He didn't notice the bathroom door open, but when the fogged glass of the shower door slid aside, Ryou yelped in surprise.

"Seto? What the hell?"

"You choose to upgrade to the romance model," Seto said, his tone so serious and his face so straight that Ryou had trouble not dropping to the shower floor from laughter. "This model includes showers."

"You're such a dork. Close the door, you're letting the stream out." Ryou smiled despite his words, reaching up in order to drape his hands over Seto's shoulders. "And you're too damn tall."

Seto responded by bending down and kissing Ryou's lips. They stood there for too long, wasting hot water while they made out. Seto eventually grabbed his luffa, soaping up both of their bodies. They slipped their fingers over bubble-clad skin. Ryou realized that they hadn't had much of a chance to really explore each other despite having slept together three times.

Ryou used the opportunity to study where Seto seemed to like being touched most. His breathing picked up When Ryou thumbed his nipples, but he squirmed if Ryou went anywhere near his navel.

Seto played the same game, so Ryou made sure to sigh when Seto nibbled Ryou's earlobe, sigh louder when Seto reached his collarbone, and hitch his hips a touch when Seto's thumbs grazed Ryou's hip bones - everything was an erogenous zone when it came to Ryou's body.

Their shower ended when the water grew cold. After they dried their bodies and hair and dressed, Seto lead them into the study. Ryou tried to make up for lost time with his work schedule, fingers racing to hit keys.

"What are you working on anyway?" Seto she'd as they ate a quick lunch in the study. "You're not on the clock."

Ryou looked sheepish. "Just, y'know, sneaking in some Easter eggs here and there."

Seto sighed. "Didn't we already have the  _you're not on salary_  talk?"

"Bite me. I can do whatever I want on my own free time."

Seto rolled his eyes. "Do you ever do anything else but work?"

"Do you?"

"That's different. It's my company."

"But Scylla and Charybdis is my baby." Ryou smiled. "Only the best for her."

* * *

Wednesday evening Ryou found himself back in Seto's dining room. Nothing had really changed between them since they decided to take things a little more seriously. Ryou suspected that both of them were too out of practice in the ways of proper courting - if Seto ever even knew such ways.

Ryou didn't eat much, not even dessert. He finally set his fork down. "Can we eat later?"

Seto smiled and it made all the nerves gnawing at Ryou's stomach worse. Ryou remembered a time when seeing Seto Kaiba smile was akin to seeing a unicorn, but they were becoming more common, though no less precious.

"In a hurry?"

"You've been on my mind a lot."

"How so?"

"You're a man of action, Seto. Come to bed and I'll show you how so instead of tell you."

Seto closed his laptop. "Very well. You've piqued my interest."

This time they packed up their computers and brought them. Ryou felt stupid undressing in front of the laundry shoot. It felt too neat and formal which didn't match up with any of the other feelings racing through Ryou's mind.

Naked, he stared at Seto. Ryou pursed his lips, not wanting to take the straight road to sex or orgasm.

"What's wrong, Ryou?"

"Nothing. I'm thinking." Ryou gestured for Seto to turn around. "Lay on your stomach."

Seto settled onto the bed, silent and expectant. Ryou crawled over to him on the king sized bed. When he reached Seto, he started massaging Seto's shoulders.

"Do you like massages?" Seto asked.

Ryou thought about it. "I don't think I've ever had a real one. I like shoulder rubs."

"I'll buy some massage oils."

"That'll be nice," Ryou said as he kneaded the knots out of Seto's back. By small degrees, Seto's muscles relaxed. Ryou decided to grab the lube and prep Seto while he was calm.

"Wait." Seto lifted up his head when he saw Ryou going for the nightstand, but it was too late.

Ryou pulled back the oak drawer. Ryou's brown eyes grew wide. "Sweet  _Marquis de Sade_ it's like a treasure chest full of sex toys!" Ryou jerked the second drawer open. "Oh baby."

"What's wrong with you?" Seto pushed himself up to hands and knees. "Don't just rummage through my stuff."

"Are these dragon dongs? You seriously have dragon dongs?"

Seto reached Ryou and grabbed for his hands to pull him away from the collection of sex toys. "Quit snooping."

Ryou counterattacked by giving Seto tiny smooches all over his face. When Seto blocked Ryou's advances, Ryou dashed back towards the open drawers.

"Dammit, Ryou."

"You don't understand," Ryou said with his butt up in the air as he bent over. He glanced behind his shoulder at Kaiba, grinning with his ass still up in the air. "I'm a nerd, and you have an  _entire drawer_  full of fantasy themed dongs." Ryou pushed himself up a little to get a better look at Seto. "A-are you blushing?"

"No." Seto looked away.

Ryou went back to Seto's stash. "Good. Then get over here and show me which one of these are the most fun."

"They're all pretty much the same," Seto muttered.

"Fine." Ryou shifted back onto the bed, arms full of several vibrators and dildos. "Sample pack it is."

"The point of having you over is to not  _need_  any of those."

"We don't  _need_  to use them - we are  _going_  to use them because it will be fun." Ryou quirked up an eyebrow at a long, curved toy. "What is this suppose to be?"

"Centaur," Seto murmured.

Ryou burst into laughter, setting that toy aside because the curve made it look hard to maneuver. "Okay, we have a dagger, a dragon cock, and a wizard's wand. Are you  _sure_  you don't have a preference?"

"You. You're my preference." Air huffed out of Seto's mouth as he dropped to the mattress and stared at the canopy above his head.

Ryou lay on top of Seto, engulfing Seto's lips in a kiss. When he pulled back, he kept his face close. "That was a sweet thing to say."

Seto sighed, rolling his eyes. "For someone who was too excited to eat dinner, you sure are dragging this out."

"You distracted me with your hoard." Ryou started kissing down Seto's body, pushing Seto's legs apart and up so he could lick his entrance.

Seto grabbed the sheets right away, not prepared for Ryou's change from teasing to serious. Ryou circled his tongue around Seto's entrance until it dripped with saliva. He only stopped long enough to douse his  _wizard's wand_ with lubrication before slipping it inside Seto.

Seto made a kittenish sound that made Ryou's heart jerk in his chest. He angled the toy upward to get Seto to repeat the sound. As Ryou prepped Seto, he kissed Seto's thigh, pale though not as pale as Ryou's skin. By the third time Seto called out Ryou's patience was spent. He unsheathed the toy and turned Seto onto his side. Ryou straddled Seto's bottom leg and held onto his top leg, kissing along Seto's calf and ankle.

Ryou pulled in a deep breath, holding it and preparing himself before pushing into the heat of Seto's body. Ryou called out, doubling over from pleasure.

"Move," Seto begged, clenching his muscles around Ryou's shaft from want of sensation.

Ryou pulled out a few centimeters and pushed back in, calling out loudly and then repeating the movements. "Can't remember . . . last time . . . oh shit."

"Keep . . . oh."

Ryou moaned in response. He kept moving until he couldn't take it anymore and then he threw Seto on his back to make it easier to stroke him. Seto grabbed Ryou's hair, tugging hard. Ryou tried to calm down, make himself last long enough for Seto to finish, but the hair pulling was too good and it was only dumb luck that they climaxed near the same time.

Ryou felt drunk when it was over. He curled up in Seto's chest and cooed approval when Seto's yanking became soft petting, and he was asleep before he had a chance to think about it.

Ryou woke up hungry. He yawned, stretched, and slipped out of bed to fetch his robe. He went back to the dining room, but of course their plates had been cleared away by the staff before they turned in for the night. Ryou sighed, wondering if the kitchen was nearby and figuring it couldn't be too far. The dining room had three doors. Ryou went out the one he always saw the servants enter through to bring them each course.

It led to another hallway and Ryou rolled his eyes. It felt like Ryou'd seen more hallways than rooms since he started his relationship with Kaiba. The kitchen was at the end of the hallway. Ryou's jaw dropped when he saw it. It was like he stepped into the back of a restaurant. Ryou supposed it needed to be that large for banquets, but the sight made Ryou sad. Seto never had a chance to talk to a friend in the kitchen while holding a mug of coffee, or shuffle around with a pint of ice cream and a spoon, or walk into the kitchen three times in a row to open the fridge, stare inside, decide nothing sounded good, and walk away only to return on the next commercial break. Simple things that helped people relate to each other were foreign to Seto and that made Ryou's chest hurt. He sighed and started to rummage.

It was harder to find food than Ryou thought it would be. The kitchen staples were in bulk for large events and Ryou realized that Seto's chef must plan meals daily and send out for fresh ingredients. He did, however, find enough basics to make a chocolate souffle - a fine midnight snack.

As it was cooling, Seto appeared in his own robe. "Ryou? Where the hell have you been? I couldn't find you . . . I thought you went home."

"Sorry. I got hungry."

Seto snorted, trying to comb his fingers through his bed-ravaged hair. "Then eat your dinner next time."

Ryou gave Seto a soft laugh, grabbing a bottle of mirin and two ramekins to serve as drinking dishes. "Sit down, Seto."

"But we're in the kitchen."

"I know. There's a few stools near the prep table."

"We don't belong in the kitchen."

"Yes we do. I made a souffle. Let's eat it here."

"Those eggs were for breakfast."

"We'll have leftover souffle for breakfast. That's what other people do, you know. They save their leftovers for later."

Seto frowned. "Ryou . . ."

Ryou poured their drinks and placed them on the prep table. "Have a drink with me, Seto."

"That's cooking wine."

Ryou smiled. "It's better quality than what most people drink at home."

"Those aren't glasses."

"I'm perfectly aware." Ryou took a sip. "See? I used the wrong kind of dish and yet the gods do not strike me down. Come, Seto, rebel against the system with me." Ryou licked his lips, playing seductive. "Perhaps we shall find that we're gods ourselves, above mortal rules."

"Fucking nerd." Seto sat down in defeat.

Ryou went to him, smoothing his hair and kissing his brow. "Relax. You deserve to sit in your own kitchen at three on the morning and eat a snack that someone didn't get paid to make."

Ryou held Seto's face so they could stare at each other. "You deserve it."

Seto's lips parted. He looked unsure. Ryou have him a single kiss and then cut into the souffle, giving them each a plate."

Seto tasted the souffle. "You . . . Really made this yourself?"

"Yes. I actually like to cook."

"It's good." Seto flushed. "No one's ever . . ."

"Chefs and five course meals are amazing, but sometimes it's better like this, right?"

Seto looked at Ryou with a bittersweet smile on his face. He nodded in agreement. They talked about their childhoods, the pain of growing up without a mother, the importance of siblings. Their conversations were sad, but good. It felt good to suffer a little with someone who understood. When half the mirin and half the souffle were gone, they slung their arms around each other's shoulders and stumbled back to bed giggling. They weren't drunk, but they each had a solid buzz.

"This was . . . a nice night, " Seto muttered into Ryou's hair as they the mattress. "Although, I felt like Gozaburo's ghost was going to catch us at any moment."

"Don't worry, my sweet." Ryou hugged Seto to his chest. "I am a self proclaimed paranormal expert. I would catch his ghost-ass and banish him to the Shadows."

"You don't have the Ring anymore."

"That's probably a good thing, unless you're into threesomes."

"You, me, and an evil spirit that I technically never believed existed."

"Technically." Ryou snorted, but then he smiled. "Besides, forget Gozaburo. How do you think Mokuba would have reacted had he seen you?"

Seto chuckled a little. "Let's not find out. He might have a heart attack."

Ryou rolled over and traced the lines around Seto's mouth. "You really are fetching when you smile."

Some of the ice in Seto's blue eyes melted. He reached up, pulling Ryou down until their lips reached, and they kissed like teenagers until dawn.


	4. Chapter 4

When Ryou went home Friday there were three white roses waiting for him at his door. No card accompanied them, but Ryou had a good guess of who sent them. He brought them inside and sat on the couch, holding the vase and admiring the perfect blossoms rising from stems twice as longs as the ones he saw in stores. A wistful sigh escaped Ryou as he traced his fingertips over petals as white as his skin.

He placed them near his bed, so he could stare at them while he pretended to sleep. After a few minutes, Ryou reached over and grabbed one of the roses so he could hold it while he stared. A thorn pricked his thumb, and Ryou sucked on it while he scowled at his own carelessness. He sniffed the bloom; the fragrance was light and subtle. Ryou closed his eyes and ran the bloom down his nose and lips, feeling the slight tickle of velvet petals against his skin.

Ryou sighed, settling deeper into his pillow and pretending a certain CEO was brushing the petals against his lips. Ryou fell asleep with the rose still in his hand, grip light so he didn't puncture his skin a second time.

The next day Ryou went to the mansion as usual, only no one sat at the dining room table. Ryou frown, he noticed something on the table, a little, gold foil box, and he walked towards it. He lifted the lid and set in on the side of the table, picking up the note card within.

_I sent the staff home for the rest of the weekend. Put this on and meet me in my room._

Ryou smiled, glad that they were skipping dinner and going straight to dessert. He noticed something else in the box and pulled it out, blushing. It was a small, black undergarment. The word  _panty_  flitted through Ryou's thoughts although it looked cut for the male figure with extra room in the front. Still . . . the thought of walking from the dining room to the bedroom in only a pair of skimpy underwear made Ryou's cheeks feel like they'd been rubbed down with the juice of a serrano peppers.

Ryou dropped his laptop case and overnight bag onto the table, stripping and shivering from the air conditioning blowing against his skin. After slipping on the little garment of black, he folded his clothes and tucked them into his duffle bag. Ryou crossed his arms over his chest, still cold, and stared at the door that would take him out into the hallway. With a deep breath, Ryou threw the door open and stepped out.

His mouth dropped as soon as he saw the hallway. It was dark, candles lined along both walls, and rose petals decorated the runner. Ryou hadn't been prepared; he stumbled backward and caught himself against the doorframe. All he could do was stare. Even trying to make jokes about rose petals and  _Penumbra_  didn't dull the sweet, yearning ache Ryou's chest felt at that moment. He tried to picture Seto walking down the hall and lighting the candles himself after making sure all the servants had left for the weekend. Was his face somber? Contemplative? Did he harbor that secret, boyish grin that Ryou never saw in public but sometimes saw in bed? He liked the last image best. Seto, giddy, flushed with excitement, getting everything ready and pacing in his bedroom as Ryou stood in the hallway too dumb with shock to walk forward.

Ryou somehow managed to move his feet, ghostlike in the dim, quivering yellow light. He expected more candles when he opened Seto's bedroom door, but only saw a dark room.

"Shut the door," Seto whispered from behind. Ryou obeyed, snapping the room into full darkness.

He felt a warm hand rest on his shoulder. Ryou jerked on reflex.

"Stay still."

Ryou blew out a long breath, relaxing. He felt Seto wrap something around his eyes - a silk scarf.

"How's your hair?"

"Um . . ." Ryou felt a strand tickling so he reached up and tucked it behind his ear. "Good."

He heard a flick, it sounded like a lighter. After a moment Seto held Ryou's shoulders. "Come."

He lead Ryou to the bed, laying him down on the silk sheets and raising Ryou's arms over his head. He expected cold metal, but felt cheap, faux fur against his wrist instead. He chuckled. "You bought the fuzzy kind?"

Seto took Ryou's fingers and showed him a latch within reach on the cuff. "Since it's our first time, I thought it'd be good if you could let yourself out if you needed to."

"Good idea." Ryou grinned. "But I doubt it. I've never been so turned on before in my life. The hallway looked beautiful . . . and the roses yesterday."

"I'm going to start now," Seto said, "remember, we can stop at anytime."

Ryou hummed an agreeing sound, but didn't pay much thought to the idea of stopping. His stomach braided into nervous, excited knots as he felt Seto's lips on his chest. Blindfolded, the sting of candle wax shocked his nerves. Ryou gasped, tensing at the sensation, but then a shiver of pleasure coursed through him and he relaxed. Seto started at Ryou's chest, kissing the skin around the cooling wax between drips.

When Ryou's entire body felt hot and burning from a mix of melted wax and desire, Seto slipped off the bed. Ryou tried to listen for clues, but heard nothing. Seto's weight returned half a moment later and Ryou shouted as an icecube pressed against his wax-coated nipple. Seto healed the burns with ice, peeling the wax away from Ryou's white skin and dribbling melted ice water in little paths across Ryou's frame.

Ryou moaned, hitching up, wanting direct stimulation to accompany the erotic torture. Seto dried Ryou with something that felt like a silk handkerchief, and then went back to the candle wax. It felt more intense the second time, and Seto paid particular attention to Ryou's thighs and pelvic area.

"Seto!" Ryou whined, wanting,  _needing_  the mounting pressure in his cock to peak and crash.

Seto responded by pulling down the black undergarment Ryou wore and shifting his mouth over the tip of Ryou's erection. Ryou writhed and moaned, Seto's mouth was freezing cold - he'd been sucking on an ice cube as he tortured ryou with hot wax. Another icecube traced the wax trails over Ryou's thighs. He shivered, wet from two rounds of ice, but even cold, Seto's mouth felt too good for Ryou to complain.

Ryou yanked at his cuffs, testing them against the bedposts. "Seto. Now. Right now. Please, please, please fuck me."

Seto's mouth pulled away. "Ryou?" he asked, his voice thick.

Ryou thrashed against the bed. "I can't wait. I need you now."

He heard Seto's breath quicken, felt lube-slick fingers search out his entrance. Ryou felt his cheeks burn. Seto had never used his hands to prep him before and there was something thrilling about the touch of skin against his ass.

Seto ripped the underwear away from Ryou's body. His legs weren't bound so it was easy to slip the garment off. When he shoved himself inside, Ryou's mind went blank-white with bliss. He couldn't think, or speak, only moan in delight at each thrust. Then he was cumming, cumming hard without being touched except for the friction of Seto's stomach against Ryou's cock.

After the sounds of his own breathing and racing heart faded, Ryou listened to Seto, enjoying every gasp, every groan. Several minutes later, Seto tore the blindfold away from Ryou's face and started kissing him, grabbing Ryou's face with both hands to steady himself as he moved. Ryou moaned into each kiss, wrapping his legs around Seto's body.

Seto broke their kisses, hissing out half broken syllables of pleasure and then he seemed to freeze in place, holding his breath for a long moment before hunching back like a stretching cat.

"Oh damn," Seto sighed.

Ryou hummed an agreeing note. He glanced down at himself, a mess of red candle wax, sweat, melted ice, semen, and the light from a single candle. "We trashed your beautiful sheets."

"That's what laundry service is for." Seto reached up and freed Ryou from the cuffs.

Ryou peeled the last wax from his bone-white body and found the silk handkerchief, using it to clean himself off. "Can't really sleep on the bed now. The sheets are soaked."

"There are guest rooms."

"I have a better idea." Ryou grinned. He found Seto's duvet folded off to the side and picked it up. "Where's your couch?"

"The . . . couch?"

"Yeah. You  _do_  own a sofa in the maze of hallways, right?"

"Well, the parlor has some, but I don't see-"

Ryou grabbed Seto's hand and dragged him out the bedroom. "Have you ever slept on a couch before?"

"Of course not. I have a bed."

"Couch-sleeping is a discomfort you need to experience."

Seto pulled his hand out of Ryou's. The candles still lit up the hallway, and Seto started to blow them out one by one. "Why on earth would we sleep on a couch if it's a discomfort?"

"Because we gotta."

"That makes no sense."

"You need to know what it feels like." Ryou chuckled.

" _Why_?"

Ryou sighed, shaking his head. "Okay . . . how do I explain? Have you ever eaten  _coq au vin_?"

"Of course."

"That used to be a peasant dish, you know, but it's become fancy over time. Sometimes you have to live like a peasant to experience the finer things in life."

"How  _exactly_  does that relate to sleeping on the sofa?"

"It's a common thing to do. People often find themselves sleeping on a sofa from time to time out of necessity - you haven't known necessity since you were little."

Seto narrowed his eyebrows. "I worked hard not to."

"Yes. And you succeeded which is great, but if you skip out on everything common, you might miss a delicious recipe." Ryou smiled. "And it's a small space so we'll have to stay close the entire night."

Seto paused, thinking. He picked up the last candle to light their way as they strolled naked down the hallway. He led them to the parlor and they cocooned themselves into the duvet as they shared a large, overstuffed sofa.

"See? This is nice, right?" Ryou asked, face pressed against Seto's chest.

Seto snorted, but after a pause he agreed. "It is." Another pause clung to the air. The candlelight drew thrilling, terrible shadows on the walls and Ryou thought of Poe. Then Seto spoke in a quiet voice. "I had them leave random groceries in the walk-in."

"Why random?"

"So you could chose what to make."

Ryou beamed. "You're going to let me cook us breakfast?"

"You said you liked to cook."

"Yes. It will be fun. You're chef's amazing, but . . . well, I like making you things myself, too."

"Before, anytime I tried to have a relationship - no one's ever wanted to do the work themselves. They liked the servants."

Ryou giggled. "I'm a Kaiba Corp employee. Work is what I do best."

"You make me sound like a slave driver."

"Nah . . . honestly, I just really like my job." Ryou felt himself blush in the darkened room. "Didn't mean to like my boss, though. That was a surprise."

Seto didn't respond, but his combed his fingers through Ryou's hair, and that was enough to sooth them into sleep. Ryou woke up in the morning with a stiff neck, but he smiled when he saw Seto bleary eyed with his hair pointing every which way and completely naked. He was always most attractive as a complete mess, because Ryou knew that those moments were rare - like a full rainbow after a storm.

Ryou showered and slipped into his robe before going to the kitchen to see what he'd make for breakfast. He made strawberry crepes. Talk during breakfast was amiable, mostly discussing old video games they played in highschool and college. Ryou kept circling their points around to his own game. He felt like he rambled like a fool, but Seto watched him speak with rapt, blue eyes and Ryou found that he couldn't stop talking.

After breakfast they went to Seto's study with their laptops and worked, breaking for meals and occasionally chatting, but mostly working on their own projects. Ryou enjoyed cooking in Seto's industrial kitchen. It felt perverse somehow, like they were breaking some unspoken rule, and Ryou liked the rapt way Seto watched him as he chopped vegetables or mixed batter.

When evening came, Ryou kept looking at the clock and telling himself, in a bit. In a bit he'd go home. In a bit he'd say goodbye. In a bit he'd really close his computer and leave. He finally did close his computer, but found it hard to broach the topic of going home.

Seto watched Ryou pack up with a slight frown on his face as if he dreaded the moment of goodbye as much as Ryou. Ryou opened his mouth to say goodbye, but then sat in Seto's lap instead, resting his head on Seto's shoulder.

Seto reached up and combed Ryou's hair, kissing the crown of Ryou's head. "Do you need to go?"

Ryou mumbled, not really agreeing or disagreeing. He snaked his arms around Seto's neck and buried himself deeper against Seto's body. They stayed like that for a long moment, and Ryou cursed each passing second he knew ticked by.

Seto's voice barely reached him it was so soft. "You could stay."

The three words made Ryou's heart pound, though he wasn't fully sure  _why_. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that they'd never gone to bed together without having sex first. Ryou considered the option - he always did bring extra work clothes after the first time just in case.

Ryou smiled against Seto's shoulder. "Do you have a nightshirt I could barrow?"

He heard, rather than saw, the smile in Seto's voice. "I'm sure I could find something."

Ryou looked up so he could see Seto's face. "Then I guess we're having a slumber party." Ryou looked around the study. "What do you do to unwind, anyway?"

"Sleep with you."

"Ha, smiling  _and_ making jokes. I've been a rather bad influence on you, Seto."

"Next you'll try to teach me how to cook."

Ryou stood up, smiling. "Sounds like a good way to burn your mansion down."

Seto stood up with him, looking down and smirking. "Do you play chess?"

Ryou nodded, and the next thing he knew, they were sitting across from each other with a chess board between them. They played three games. Seto annihilated Ryou during the first one - Ryou hadn't prepared himself for a challenge though he should have known that Kaiba would never ask him to play a game that Kaiba himself didn't excel at. The second game Ryou held his own, though he lost all the same.

By some miracle, Ryou won the third game. Seto stared at the board, blinking. Ryou started to giggle. "You've . . . never lost in chess before, have you?"

"Not since I was five."

Ryou laughed a little more. "Please don't build a theme park and try to kill me."

A rare blush flared across Seto's cheeks at the mention of Death-T. "That would be rude after you cooked for me all day."

"Is that the secret? I'll have to let Yugi know the next time I see him."

"It's not like  _you_  didn't try to kill him as well."

Ryou shook his head, toying with his black marble carved knight piece. "No, I never did."

"Yes, that's right. It was the ancient Egyptian spirits fighting."

Ryou glanced at the old scar on his left hand. "I couldn't tell if that was a statement or a facetious remark - I chose to interpret it as a statement."

Seto frowned. "Did I offend you?"

Ryou gave him a soft smile. "No. It's just been a long time since I thought about any of it." Ryou blinked. "It's crazy how long ago that was, now that I am thinking about it."

"It's crazy how all our favorite cards are now on banned lists."

"Oh, don't even get me started on that. I'm still mad about Change of Heart going on the banned list. I don't care if it was fifteen years ago - I'll never forgive them."

"You do realize that was longer than fifteen years ago-"

"Quiet you. I don't want to feel any older than I already am."

Seto leaned across the chessboard, brushing the back of his hand up Ryou's cheek. "You're more beautiful now than you were back then."

Nevertheless, Ryou felt as if he were far too old to be blushing as much as he was as he stared, speechless and wide-eyed, at Seto.

Seto grinned. "Ready to turn in?"

Ryou nodded, still unable to speak, and they went to Seto's bedroom.

Seto looked through his closet. "All my pants are too long for you."

Ryou shrugged. "A shirt will work. I could sleep nude if it's more convenient. I'm just used to pajamas."

"See if this suits you." He lent Ryou a silk night shirt. It went down to Ryou's knees because of their height difference, but felt delightful against his skin. Ryou noticed he could smell Seto in the fabric and Ryou thought about "accidentally" taking it home with him.

Seto put on his own nightwear and they looked at the wax, splattered sheets. Seto stared for a moment. "I'm not use to the staff not being here."

Ryou laughed, picking the wax off the sheets and pulling them off of the mattress. "Do you even know where your washing machine is?"

". . . No."

That made Ryou laugh harder, his hair falling into his face as he balled up the sheets.

"Shut-up."

"I will not. You're a grown man who can't feed himself or wash his own clothes - it's funny."

"I have people to do that for me so I can focus on bigger things."

"And if we were in a zombie apocalypse, you wouldn't survive one single week."

"The odds of that ever happening are astronomical."

"Come on." Ryou carried the sheets out of the room.

"Where are we going now?"

"Well, we're on the first floor and the laundry shoot goes down, so I'm assuming you have a basement."

Seto snorted, taking the lead. "Ryou Bakura . . . have I ever told you that you're sexiest when you use common sense?"

They stepped into a service elevator, hitting the button for the basement level. Ryou grinned, leaning close to Seto and looking up. "You're sexiest when you smile."

The statement made Seto turn his head a little, a slight blush on his cheeks and a slight smile on his face.

Ryou hummed with appreciation. "Yeah . . . just like that."

"Well." Seto stumbled for something to say. "You also look really good wearing my shirt."

"Do I?" Ryou leaned even closer, trying to set up a kiss.

Seto drew his own lips closer to Ryou's. "Indeed."

Before their lips could touch, the elevator door opened up to the basement. It somehow ruined the moment, so Ryou stepped out of the elevator and into the basement with slippered feet. Finding the laundry room was easy, and Ryou set the sheets to a short, delicate cycle.

"They probably get dry cleaned, but one run through the wash won't ruin them." Ryou scratched the back of his head in embarrassment. "And honestly? I don't like the thought of a maid washing our sheets."

"Our sheets?"

Ryou raised an eyebrow, challenging Seto to disagree, but he only grinned. Ryou decided to lift himself up on the washing machine and use it as a seat. Seto watched him for a moment, as if trying to analyse the situation, but instead of questioning Ryou like he usually did, he simply sat on the washer himself. Their legs dangled off of the edge as they sat side by side. Ryou's mouth split into a large grin.

"We could play online on nights we don't see each other," Seto said.

"You mean cyber sex?" Ryou asked, not unopposed to the idea.

"Duel Monsters, you pervert."

"Oh please, like you know the difference between sex and Duel Monsters."

"I wear a duel disk during one of those activities."

Ryou laughed again, holding onto Seto's arm to keep his balance. "If you came to bed wearing only a duel disk, I would die laughing, perhaps literally."

"That would be awkward to explain to the authorities."

The machine beeped, and they jumped down in order to take the sheets out of the wash. There was a rod at the end of the laundry room to hang garments, and Ryou used it as a clothes line. He also found clean, folded replacement linen in a storage area and they went back to Seto's room. Ryou smiled when Seto tried to help make his own bed. His side had more wrinkles, but Ryou didn't mention it because he didn't want to discourage Seto - and there was something incredibly fun about watching Seto Kaiba make a bed.

 


	5. Chapter 5

Monday and Tuesday passed the same as before - quick days, agonizing nights. Gaming online with Seto helped, but as soon as Ryou turned off his computer and had to face the loneliness of his own bed, Ryou couldn't help but miss Seto's ridiculously long legs tangled up with his own, and the long, slender fingers toying with Ryou's white hair.

Ryou managed to eat dinner Wednesday and challenge Seto to another game of chess before they went to the bedroom. The wait felt like torture. Everything in Ryou screamed to tackle Seto to the study floor and take him on the rug, but Ryou forced himself to focus on the chess game, allowing his desire to simmer until he physically couldn't stand it.

When they did reach the bedroom, it was hard and quick and they passed out seconds afterward. Then Thursday came along and Ryou couldn't sleep that night no matter how many times he pleasured himself in a vain attempt to wear himself out. Ryou almost emailed Seto asking if he could stop by Friday night instead of Saturday, but he didn't want to be clingy. Instead, Ryou buried his face into his pillow, muttering  _stop it, twice a week is enough_ , over and over again. He never managed to convince himself of the words despite how many times he growled them against his pillowcase.

With that being the state of Ryou's mindset, his heart jumped into his throat when he checked his email the next morning and saw a message from Seto explaining that the swing he'd ordered arrived early and he wanted to try it out that night instead of waiting. Ryou bit his bottom lip to suppress the moan that wanted to escape from his mouth. He jumped up and ran to the shower so he'd have time to get ready for work and pack for another weekend.

For the first time since his odd relationship started, Ryou couldn't concentrate on work. He'd gotten ahead - focusing on work to avoid other thoughts, but all those other thoughts had caught up with him and now he couldn't stop the daydreams from creeping into his mind. He passed the day like that, lost in daydreams and sighing.

When he reached the mansion, it was Seto that answered the door - probably another first for the CEO.

"Hey." Ryou smiled.

"Hey." Seto reached out and skimmed his fingers across Ryou's cheeks. "You look exhausted."

"Oh, do I?" Ryou frowned.

"You haven't been staying up all night working, have you?"

"No. Actually things are finally calming down. We'll start betas next week."

"Then why are there circles under your eyes?"

"Good old fashioned insomnia." Ryou tried laughing it off, not wanting to tell Seto that the real reason he looked dead on his feet was closer to love sickness than insomnia.

"Cone on." Seto closed Ryou's hands and dragged them into the mansion.

"Where are we going? The bedroom's down the other hall."

"The parlor," Seto answered.

"Why?"

Seto gave Ryou a sly look. "Because."

He led Ryou to the couch they'd slept on the prior weekend. Seto grabbed Ryou and pulled him down.

"What are we doing?"

"Taking a nap."

"But . . . don't you want to . . ."

Seto grabbed Ryou's hand and passed it against the erection straining against Seto's pants. "You tell me."

"Then why . . .?"

"I want you to have plenty of energy when we get started."

Ryou settled against Seto. "This is comfy."

Seto nodded,and then they were asleep. Ryou woke up the hours later, but Seto was still knocked out. Ryou smiled and watched him sleep for a moment, guessing that Seto had been as tired as himself. It was probably from work, but Ryou wanted to pretend it was because he missed Ryou in the same way Ryou missed Seto during their nights apart.

Ryou slipped out of the parlor and went to the kitchen. He brewed tea and found a platter of cold cuts he assumed were for them to snack on. Ryou carried everything to the parlor and then got the chess board.

Seto rubbed grit out of his eyes and blinked, watching Ryou as he set up the chess board. "What are you doing?"

"I thought you might want to play. Oh, and I got hungry, so I grabbed the platter I found in the walk-in."

Seto rolled off the sofa to the floor, which is right where he needed to be to play. He took off his suit jacket and tie, resting them on the sofa arm. "You know I can't resist a challenge."

Ryou smiled, admiring Seto's nap-rumpled appearance. Seto moved a pawn to start the game. He watched Ryou, picking up bites of cheese or meat from the cold cut platter and nibbling as he thought over his move. It took awhile, but Seto finally reached over and grabbed a roll of turkey meat. Ryou smiled. He'd  _forgotten_  to bring forks to see what Seto would do, and was happy to see Seto rolling with the situation instead of asking questions - like he usually did when Ryou ruffled his habitual, and proper, feathers.

Ryou won the first game. Seto was more asleep than awake, but Seto still managed to wake up enough to win the second game. Ryou smiled, glancing up. "Do you like movies?"

"I . . . never have time to watch them."

"Want to?"

Seto studied Ryou and then nodded his head. Ryou got his laptop and looked through his list, choosing  _Howl's Moving Castle_  because Seto was both an overt nerd and a secret romantic. After the movie they found themselves on Duel Monster forums debating rules until they were both near-screaming at the sheer amount of idiots on the internet.

Ryou snapped his laptop shut and stood up. "Okay. I think I need a break before I scream."

Seto smirked. "You've been screaming for quite some time now."

"Alright, fine. I need a break before I scream myself so hoarse that you won't get any fun out of me before bed."

"Well, we can't have that."

"Come on." Ryou grabbed Seto's hand, pulled him up from the couch, and started to drag him out of the Parlor.

"Where are we going?"

"I'm not sure yet. I'll decide as I go!" Ryou laughed, Seto still in tow.

He decided on going outside, curving and following a cobble path towards an area where tall hedges blocked the view. He'd only seen them at a distance as a security cart drove him to the front door, but then Ryou realized the hedges had an entrance and he got excited.

Ryou squeezed Seto's hand. "Seto? Is this hedge garden a maze?"

"Yes."

"You have a hedge maze?" Ryou asked, though it was more than a shout than a question.

"Yes."

"Why didn't you  _tell_  me?"

Seto furrowed his brow. "Why . . . should have I told you?"

Ryou finished dragging Seto to the entrance. "Because nobody actually  _owns_  a hedge maze. It's something one sees in a horror movie, but never in real life."

"Well, now you've seen it. Let's go back inside." Seto pulled Ryou into his arms and kissed his pale throat.

Ryou sighed, tilting his head back. "Oh? Did this garden remind you of a certain swing we were suppose try out tonight?"

"Perhaps," Seto muttered against Ryou's neck.

Ryou held Seto's cheeks, kissing his lips and teasing him with a slight nudge of his groin. "How bad do you want me right now?"

"Bad enough."

"Yeah?" Ryou gave Seto's bottom lip a soft bite.

His blue eyes ignited when Ryou's teeth hit their mark. He grabbed Ryou's hair and deepened their kisses.

Ryou spoke against Seto's lips between the onslaught of kisses. "You have - to do - one - thing - first."

"What?" Seto growled.

With a final swirl of his tongue, Ryou pulled away. The setting sun cast them in shadow and the light that did penetrate turned Ryou's hair to a fountain of blood. "Catch me," Ryou whispered and ran.

"What? Where are you going?" Seto shouted from behind Ryou.

"Chase me, Seto!" Ryou laughed. He didn't know where was going, allowing the natural flow of the maze to lead him past koi ponds and bonsai trees. His feet crunched against the gravel, and his breath struggled in and out of his chest, and Ryou couldn't stop laughing. He finally reached a dead end. A gazebo sat in the middle of pond suffocating with lotus flowers. Ryou ran to the bridge connecting the land to the gazebo and dropped down, gasping for breath and staring at the first stars flashing to life in the ever darkening sky.

Seto caught up, dropping on top of Ryou and pinning his arms over his head. "Was that really necessary?"

"It was really fun." Ryou watched Seto's face, bright and sweating, his hair clinging to the sweat on his temples. "And you look damn good sweating and flushed." Ryou pulled Seto down for another kiss.

Seto moaned. "Hey, Ryou?"

"Yeah?"

"Now you catch me." Seto pushed off of him and bolted.

Ryou's brown eyes opened wide, too shocked to blink. He had to physically shake his head to snap himself out of it, push himself to his feet, and join the chase.

"What's a matter? Quit already?" Seto's voice echoed from the other side of a bush.

Ryou sprinted, using sound to help him catch up the distance between them. He was grateful when he finally saw the back of Seto's chestnut brown locks - he had something to follow then. Seto took a different path out of the maze, a little shorter with climbing rose lattices filling an entire stretch of pathway. He didn't stop when they escaped the maze, however, Seto kept running up the cobblestone path.

Ryou followed. His side ached, and he suddenly felt too old to be running in the forming dark, but Seto's silhouette spurred him on. Seto ran inside, leaving the door opened. Ryou slammed it behind him, making sure to keep one eye on Seto to see which hallway he disappeared down. Just when Ryou was sure Seto led them to his bedroom, Seto stopped one door short and slipped inside. This time, he shut the door behind him.

Ryou crashed against the door. Panting a moment before taking the cool, bronzed knob in his hand and twisting. The room and beige walls and a few dragon tapestries. Ryou saw a wardrobe and a chase, but there wasn't much other furniture - except the sex swing in the center - that was definitely there. Seto stood next to it, hands on his knees as he struggled to breath.

"I don't know what the hell I was thinking. That was stupid."

"Yeah . . ." Ryou smiled. He walked over to the ivory chase and removed his clothes. "You should be stupid more often."

"I simply can't refuse a challenge."

"Well we both caught each other at a dead-end, so it's technically a draw."

Seto stood in front of Ryou. "Just this once, I'm okay with a draw."

"Oh?" Ryou raised an eyebrow, his fingers slipping each button free from Seto's shirt.

"Keep it a secret," Seto whispered against the crown of Ryou's head as Ryou undressed him. "We can't have my reputation compromised."

"I promise, it's between you and me, but these-" Ryou tugged at Seto's pants, pulling the belt away. "-need not be between us."

Seto snorted but it was more a snort of laughter than anything else. Ryou grinned as he folded the last of Seto's clothes and placed them on top of his own neat pile.

As they kissed, Ryou forced Seto backward until they'd reached the swing. He spun Seto around and pushed him down on the swing. As Ryou slipped Seto's legs into two secondary slings, he kissed Seto's back.

"Pull back the tapestry," Seto said.

Ryou looked up, seeing a tapestry in front of them. Curious, Ryou marched over to the thread-woven dragon. He pulled a tasseled cord next to the fabric, and the tapestry slide away like a curtain. Only, instead of a window, Ryou saw his naked, white reflexion in a mirror.

"Nice touch." Ryou chuckled. He turned around to look at Seto instead of Seto's reflection.

Ryou walked closer, grabbing the top frame of the swing for balance and using his scarred, left hand to grab Seto's hair and raisee his face up. Ryou guided his growing cock toward Seto's lips. Seto opened his mouth wide, sucking until Ryou was taut and throbbing. Ryou pulled away before he got too close to the edge. Ryou knelt on one knee, hand still in Seto's hair, and kissed him roughly. Then he moved to the other end of the swing. He adjusted the straps holding Seto's legs so that they spread him wide.

"Is this comfortable enough?"

Seto grunted in confirmation. Ryou glanced at Seto's face in the mirror. Their eyes met in the reflexion. Seto looked eager, watching and waiting to see what Ryou would do it him. Ryou smiled. He started to kiss Seto's spine, trailing down towards his tailbone. As Ryou kissed Seto's soft skin, his hand wandered over Seto's ass and thighs. When Seto's breathing grew restless, Ryou knelt down again and likced Seto's entrance.

A string of needy  _ahhhhs_  flew from Seto's mouth. Ryou continued to lick until Seto's entrance was dripping wet. He slipped his fingers inside, scissoring and adding a third finger when Seto was ready.

"Th-the wardrobe." Seto managed to say between gasps.

Ryou jumped up and examined the wardrobe. Seto's toy collection and a few costume-like props greeted him. Ryou made a mental note to take inventory later. For the time being, he grabbed the bottle of lube - assuming that's what Seto wanted - and a large, white dragon themed dong for good measure.

As Ryou raided the wardrobe, Seto readjusted in the swing so that he was on his back, hugging his knees and facing the mirror. Ryou knelt down again, going back to his rim job to garuntee Seto was relaxed and enjoying himself before Ryou doused his hot skin with cold lubrication. He slipped his white fingers inside Seto again, one, two, three, listening to the intensity of Seto's moans with each adjustment. Seemingly pleased with three fingers, Ryou pulled most the way out with a slow, careful glide. He coated both Seto and his hand with more lube, allowing the liquid to drip onto the rug - the mess would be worth it. Then, Ryou used all his fingers and thumb to make a cone-shape with his hand before slipping back inside.

Seto threw his head back. He clenched a moment and Ryou held still until Seto's muscles relaxed. Then he pulled away a little, going back in slow and gentle. He went close to the knuckles, but not to them, getting Seto's body used to the opening feeling of all his digits before trying to stretch him any further.

With each exhale, Seto gave a thick, lusty groan. Ryou poured another round of lube against Seto's flesh, easing his hands into the knuckles.

Seto called out.

Ryou teased him a few more times, still going slow, and then pulled out.

"No. Don't stop. Please, please don't, " Seto begged.  _Begged._  And Ryou wanted him. He wanted to bury himself balls-deep into Seto and go until they were both screaming.

Instead he kissed Seto's thigh. "Patience,"

"Ryou,"

"Shhhh." Ryou covered the dong in lubrication and guided into Seto's body.

Seto moaned when the sensation of being filled returned after the absence of Ryou's fingers. The dong was thick, twice as thick as the wizard's wand that Ryou had used last time and about as thick as Ryou's wrist - which was why he'd chosen it. Ryou continued to pump Seto with the toy, taking his time, enjoying the greedy expressions fluttering across Seto's face.

Seto gripped two straps near his head. When he released his hold on one in order to stroke himself, Ryou eased the dong back out.

"Ryou! Why?" Seto screamed, the pleading quality still in his voice.

"I told you, love, be patient."

Ryou added yet another round of lube to his hand and Seto's entrance. He slipped all his fingers in again, this time going a little past his knuckles. Seto grabbed both straps again, his moans thicker and lusher than before.

Ryou kept a slow pace. When he felt Seto's muscles relax to the sensation of Ryou's hand inside him, Ryou poured yet another round of lubrication. This time, Ryou slipped well past his knuckles. He paused, giving Seto time to adjust, and then pushed in even deeper.

Seto was incoherent. His noises stopped instead of getting louder, leaving only the hypnotic sound of heavy breathing.

"How are you doing?" Ryou asked, kissing Seto's thigh, making sure Seto remained relaxed as Ryou worked his way deeper.

" _Oh god_ ,"

Ryou's lips smiled against Seto's thigh. Ryou increased his speed just a touch but continued using gentle movements.

Seto's breathing turned ragged. Sweat beaded along his skin. Ryou moved his kisses inward, running his tongue against the underside of Seto's balls.

Seto found his voice again, sighing as Ryou's tongue worked.

"Just . . . a little . . . oh god - god - god."

Ryou sucked instead of licked, and the combination of his tongue and his fist pushed Seto over the edge. As Seto gasped for breath, Ryou took care to disengage himself.

"Are you up for a shower?" Ryou asked.

Seto nodded. He tried to stand up, but collapsed in Ryou's arms. Ryou caught him. Seto's knees remained bent, so when he looked up, his nose brushed against Ryou's.

"Sorry," he whispered.

"Are you okay?" Ryou asked.

Seto stood up. "Yeah, good. A little shaky."

Seto started giggling.

"Seto?"

He shook his head, still giggling.

"Oh dear god I broke you. I broke you and now I'm going to have to explain to everyone why you're broken."

Seto dropped back to the swing.

A huge smile covered Ryou's face. "I don't think I've ever fucked a man giddy before. You're very cute like this."

Seto his face into his hands until he regained some control over himself. Ryou watched with a mixture of amusement, confusion, and arousal.

Seto grabbed Ryou by the hips and pulled him close. "Let's get you a little more dirty before we take that shower."

"You don't want to rest first?"

"No," spoke against Ryou's navel, kissing his way down to Ryou's groin.

Seto stood and swung Ryou into the harness, laying him down. Seto dropped to his knees and swallowed Ryou whole.

"Oh damn," Ryou closed his eyes.

Ryou tilted his head all the way back in order to see himself upside down in the mirror, his white skin a lovely contrast to the black swing.

Seto pushed Ryou's cock all the way to the back of his throat. Ryou felt his heart leap into his throat. The warmth and wetness was already amazing, but the added constriction sent Ryou somersaulting over the edge after two or three minutes.

Now Ryou was laughing, the same way Seto had. Instead of post orgasmic glow it was closer to post orgasmic madness.

"Hmmmm," Seto smirked. "I've never sucked a man giddy before. You look pretty cute as well."

Ryou got to his feet as soon as he trusted his legs. "Let's shower."

On the shower they stood close, combing each other's hair and dripping their fingers down each other's bodies.

It was hard for Ryou to think, sleepy from orgasm and wrapped up in Seto's arms as they wasted hot water.  _I won't go home this time,_ his brain insisted.  _I just stay all week, and never go back home._

It was a lie, of course, but a comforting one. One he repeated in his mind until the moment he left the mansion.

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *** "I believe I am probably the only developer to get all three possible romantic characters to have sex with me in one night at the camp: Leliana, Alistair, and Zevran. Of course, as soon as they were all done, Leliana forced me to break up with her, and Alastair made me choose between him and Zevran. But still, it was a good night. I even had a friend visiting me at work that night as a witness. (I had been telling her how fantastic Zevran was, and she needed to see for herself.) I'm also the designer famed for yelling at the screen, "Why won't you have sex with me!' on one or more occasions. Alistair can be such a coy bitch sometimes. (Okay, okay, it was a bug and I fixed it.)" ~ Cori May, Designer from Dragon Age Origins.
> 
> I added this quote in because there's a homage to it in this chapter where Seto screams "why won't you have sex with me!" at one of the characters in Ryou's video game.***

They were never as adventurous Wednesdays. Ryou took Seto from behind on the ivory chase and then they swapped positions. Afterward, they cocooned themselves in a blanket on the floor and watched movies on Ryou's laptop - he'd brought it for movies, since most the bugs were fixed in the game.

Thursday Ryou came home to a box of creampuffs waiting on his doorstep but no note. He ate them in lieu of dinner while chatting to Seto online about work gossip.

He didn't even to try to sleep more than a few hours that night, knowing the futility of his efforts. Instead, Ryou tried to think of something special to do with Seto that weekend. They hadn't planned anything specific, other than seeing how many of Seto's toys they could go through in one weekend, but Ryou wanted to do something fun between rounds of, well fun.

Then he got an idea.

Friday evening Ryou texted Seto to tell him that he'd be arriving in a cab soon. They never specifically said if they'd meet Friday or Saturday, so Ryou wanted to make sure he didn't get harassed by security. Seto waited at the door, a hint of curiosity showed through the endless blue of his eyes - since Ryou had never had a cab pull up to the door before.

"It's alright, right?" Ryou asked, nervous once he saw Seto standing and waiting. "That I came on Friday again instead of Saturday?"

Seto shrugged, the personification of nonchalance. "You never interfere when I work, so if you wanted to start coming every Friday instead of Saturday it won't hinder my schedule."

Ryou would have kissed Seto, had there not been a taxi driver and security guard near by. Instead, Ryou started gathering his stuff out of the trunk while Seto paid the cab driver (before Ryou had a chance to yell at him for it).

"Why did you bring your desktop?" Seto asked, grabbing the monitor and a messenger bag so he could carry them for Ryou.

Ryou grinned, lifting the tower up in one arm and slinging his night bag over the other arm. "I may have kinda sorta signed us up as betas for Scylla and Charybdis."

Seto raised an eyebrow as they walked inside. "So, basically you're going to work all weekend."

They set up Ryou's computer in the parlor instead of the study - the parlor was more comfortable. "When's the last time you found yourself so swept up in a game that you lost sleep? That you thought of nothing else? That your pulse quickened and you almost felt orgasmic every time you played?"

Seto smirked, and Ryou knew the answer to his question without Seto having to say a word.

Ryou held up a disk that held a working copy of Scylla and Charybdis _._  "If this doesn't have the same effect on us this weekend, then I and my entire team have failed . . . but I have faith in us."

Seto gave Ryou a calculated look. "Is this just an excuse to play videogames all weekend?"

"I have energy drinks and cups of ramen and three pairs of pajamas."

"I am not eating cupped ramen."

Ryou worked on connecting his computer, keeping it on the floor so he could sprawl out as he played. "You don't have to. Go get your computer and bring it in here."

Seto sighed, standing to his feet. "I really don't know how I let you talk me into these things."

"Forced against your logical will into a weekend of sex and videogames, you poor dear."

While Seto set up his computer, Ryou ransacked the bed for pillows and blankets. He made a sort of nest on the floor. Ryou took down his hair, shaking it out, removed his tie, and unbuttoned his work shirt. "Sometimes it's hard to feel human when I'm trapped in a suit."

He gave Seto a sly look, crawling towards him and undoing the red, silk tie. "Don't you think?"

"I think you're just trying to get me out of my clothes."

As soon as Seto's neck was free from tie and collar, Ryou began sucking on his throat, only breaking to answer. "It's working, right?"

"The staff is still here - you should have let me know you were coming sooner. I would have gotten rid of them."

"There's two doors in here. You lock one and I'll lock the other."

Seto gasped as Ryou bit. "Okay."

They stood up, each locking a door, and then finished removing and folding their clothes, setting the stack on the sofa and settling back down into Ryou's nest. Seto twined his legs around Ryou's body and combed through his hair. Ryou sighed. He loved how long Seto's legs were, how they tangled up with Ryou's legs in an infinite knot.

They trailed their tongues along each other's shoulders, chests, stomachs, slow and soft, like a dream. No, better than a dream. His dreams with Seto were always sultry, but unresolved, never getting enough and always having to wake up to a lonely bed, but now there was Seto's lips against Ryou's skin and Seto's legs entwined around Ryou's body, and he was content.

Ryou reached for his messenger bag, digging through boxes of pocky and yam-yam and looking for a smaller toiletry bag. He found it and grabbed the lube he'd brought, working one-handed as his other hand caressed Seto's chest and his lips sucked at Seto's neck.

He'd just popped the cap off when the phone rang.

"Dammit. I forgot again. I have to take this." Seto jumped to his feet and grabbed his jacket, fishing out a cellphone.

Seto answered the phone, speaking right away. "I know, Mokuba, I know. I was just about to call you but some business came up and delayed me."

Ryou smiled, laying on the floor and staring up at Seto while he paced the parlor floor.

"Hm . . . mmm-hmmm . . . no . . . yes, yes. How are your classes? You better not get a B. I don't care if the teacher hates you - get an A to spite him."

Ryou covered his hand over his mouth to mute a chuckle. Seto  _would_  be the type to use perfection as a sort of vengeance.

"What? Working, what else would I do all weekend? No - no - no - Mokuba, we're not having this conversation again." Seto walked away to the furthest end of the room, which only piqued Ryou's interest. Seto's voice lowered just a touch. "I told you a thousands times already - I don't want to date, I don't need to date, I'm fine as I am. No . . . no. I'm perfectly content . . . that's what I just said. There isn't a difference. Whatever - don't get a B in history. I'm not changing the topic, your grades were the topic, and you're the one that deviated from that when you decided to try and meddle with my personal life."

Ryou rolled over and buried his face into a pillow because he was laughing too hard.

"I'm not alone. I'm surrounded by people all the time. What do you mean it's not the same? That's ridiculous. Mokuba don't you dare. If you call Yugi to check me like some babysitter I'll have him arrested for trespassing. That wasn't a threat. Mokuba I'm really busy this weekend. Uh . . . business meetings. I-I'm working on a project with an associate - no, I didn't stutter the connection must be bad - no it's not a hot chick. Can we please talk about anything else?"

Ryou peeked up from his pillow. Seto's conversation drifted into mundane topics not as fun to eavesdrop on. Ryou imagined what it would be like, if Amane were alive and harassing Ryou to go on dates, or worse, settle down. It'd be annoying, but Ryou wished he could have the chance to be frustrated with her.

Seto hung up the phone, groaning.

"That was entertaining to listen to."

Seto crashed on the couch rubbing his temples. "When we started this . . . I thought it'd be more sporadic. I never considered what would happen when he comes home for summer break."

Ryou drew circles on his pillow. "I can stay away when he visits."

A stomach-curdling silence hung in the air. Ryou was afraid to look at Seto, but he eventually did when Seto didn't say anything.

When Seto noticed Ryou's gaze, he answered. "I wouldn't like that."

Ryou forced a smile in an attempt to lighten the mood. "It's a big mansion. I could sneak in the back door for a booty call once a week and then slip out like a ninja."

"I wouldn't like that either."

"But Seto - ninjas."

"You said this was a romance now."

Ryou sat up, feeling the shift of tone in the air. He knelt on the blanket, the pillow covering his crotch as if that'd diminish his vulnerability. "Honestly? I've grown very attached to you, Seto. I . . . would miss you."

"Would you meet him?" Seto blurted out the question as if it tasted bad in his mouth. "I mean . . . you  _know_  him already, but . . ."

"W-would it be okay?" Ryou asked. "I know this is sort of a DL thing."

"I can trust Mokuba," Seto said.

Ryou's heart sped up. Being introduced to family was on a level that Ryou hadn't prepared for. "H-how w-would you introduce me? A business associate, or . . . or . . ."

"I called you my associate over the phone because I didn't want to explain anything to him yet. When he comes home for the summer I'd . . . I'd probably say you were my friend."

Ryou couldn't help but laugh. "Have you ever earnestly used that term to address anyone?"

Seto stared at the carpet. "No."

Ryou dragged a shuddering breath into his lungs. He felt like he'd vomit butterflies at any moment.

Seto took Ryou's silence as doubt and continued speaking. "Nor have I ever eaten in bed, or sat in my kitchen, or slept on a couch, or even  _seen_  my laundry room, or ran through a hedge maze, or locked the door to keep the servants out. Ryou I -"

Ryou jerked his head up and his brown eyes locked onto Seto's blue stare. For a moment, Ryou thought Seto was going to say something amazing, something even less probable than  _you're my friend_ , but Ryou's eyes broke Seto's resolve, and he sat on the sofa with parted, silent lips.

Ryou crawled to the sofa and sat beside Seto, holding Seto's cheeks and pressing their foreheads together for a moment before brushing his nose against Seto's temple. "Just tell me when, and I'll be here."

Their lips caught together, almost by accident, almost, and their kisses began slow and deep. They somehow ended up on the floor, back in their nest. Ryou reached out his hand, searching folds of blanket for quite some time before his fingers brushed against the plastic lube container. He showed the bottle to Seto, raising an eyebrow as if to ask who should top. Seto didn't respond, but he did blush, and it was answer enough for Ryou. He warmed the gel in his hand before slipping a finger inside Seto's body, and a moment later adding a second.

They were a mess of breath and of beads of sweat, of blush-hued cheeks and of full, aroused lips. Ryou turned them on their sides so he could face Seto, lifting up Seto's top leg and shifting lower so he could angel himself appropriately. They left crimson furrows on each other's shoulders even as they called out each other's names.

Seto rolled Ryou on his back and climbed on top of him, riding him until they both sank into the blankets to catch their breath. Ryou fell asleep before he could think of anything, the sleepless nights always catching up to him when he lay in Seto's arms.

When they woke up, they dressed in order to sneak into Seto's room and use his shower to clean up before dinner. Since the staff was still present, they ate their usual five course meal and then they walled themselves back into the parlor to begin their gaming session. Ryou held his breath as they installed the game on their computers. He'd worked  _so damn hard_  on perfecting it, and he knew it wouldn't be perfect - that's why they had betas - but he wanted it to be playable. He wanted it to be the kind of game that stole your soul and never truly gave it back even long after you stopped playing it and went on to other games.

When the title screen came up, Ryou griped Seto's hand and squeezed it. He couldn't help it; he was too excited. His eyes kept darting to Seto's face, trying to gage Seto's reactions hidden behind a swirl of colors from the computer monitor. They watched the intro, made characters, and began playing on multiplayer. The name  _Scylla and Charybdis_ came from Greek mythology. Odysseus had to sail between two different sea monsters, choosing which danger to face. The team named it so because of all the choices hidden in the game. From major branches in the storyline, to small behaviors towards NPC's, there wasn't much in the game that didn't affect it in some way, and throughout everything the player had to walk a tightrope between both challenges and gray-scaled morality - something Ryou identified with a little too much.

Things went smoothly, they played for several hours with only minor glitches. Ryou kept a clipboard nearby to jot down notes as he played. Midnight came and went, as did 3 am and 5 am. They swore  _one more quest and then a break_ , but the quest Seto picked lead easily into another and then another, and by the time they found a good place to save it was almost 10 am and there was a fairy's ring of energy drink cans surrounding them.

"Well?" Ryou asked, his eyes burning as his head swimming in of sludge of sleep deprivation and endorphins.

Seto grabbed Ryou's shoulders, leaning in close. "What do you mean well?"

"Do you like it?"

A smirk twitch against the corner of his mouth. "I don't know. We should play some more to find out."

Ryou grinned. "One more quest won't hurt."

It did hurt. They couldn't beat the boss - too tired to think straight - and they both ended up screaming and cursing at the game as if the gods themselves had forsaken them. After that they gave up and took a nap. Ryou dropped into sleep like a stone down a well. More screaming woke him up, Seto's lovely, commanding voice shouting, "why won't you have sex with me!"

Ryou rubbed his eyes, checking his phone and noticing it was 4:30 and he'd only gotten four hours of sleep. He blinked, trying to focus and noticing Seto at his computer.

"Who won't have sex with you?"

"Eistla."

"Why are you even trying to have sex with a half-giant?" Ryou laughed, crawling over to his computer and loading his own game.

"Because she could pick me up with one hand. Don't you judge me, Ryou Bakura."

Ryou buried his face in his hands, laughing. "How many personal quests have you done?"

"Three."

"uh-oh," Ryou sighed, laughter gone because he knew he was about to have to add to his list of things to fix. "Did you give her-"

"The doll? Yes. And she gave me a dagger after a few random encounters."

"Uh-oh."

"Don't you uh-oh me."

Ryou scooted to Seto's screen, checking the character's approval rating of Seto's character. It was high enough for a relationship, high enough for the love branch, actually. Ryou sighed again, making a note of the glitch on his clipboard.

"No. No, don't you dare write on your clipboard. This is bullshit, Ryou."

"I'm sorry."

"Goddammit."

"You can have sex with me instead," Ryou teased.

"I already got that achievement."

"Bitch, I will run a magnet over your hard drive."

Seto laughed at Ryou's threat. "I've never been with anyone smart enough to do that before."

"Yeah, well now you are, so you better watch your cute, little ass."

"Fine. I'll sleep with the elf instead."

"Which one?"

"The girl - can I have sex with both of them?"

Ryou grinned. "We thought about giving the characters set sexualities, but I kinda sorta intentionally convinced everyone that it'd be a pain to program so all the characters are polyamorous bisexuals out of sheer laziness on our part."

Seto gave a single, curt nod of his head. "Then it's on."

Ryou tossed Seto a box of pocky, grabbing one for himself at the same time. "First one to bed everyone beside Eistla tops tonight."

* * *

Ryou say at his desk and drank coffee as he worked out the bugs from his clipboard list. He felt like a programmer's version of Schrodinger's cat - wanting to fix the game, but at the same time wanting to ignore his responsibilities to  _play_  the game. At least, he thought, the game was as good as he wanted it to be. They'd slept about ten hours the entire weekend - even forgoing sex on Sunday just to play a little longer before they both had to go back to work.

Ryou paid for it with headaches and comments from everyone that saw him that he looked dead. He was on his third cup of coffee, realized it wasn't helping, realized he had most of the day left, realized he'd have to take a nap before he even  _tried_  connecting online with Seto to play some more. If the situation had a silver lining, Ryou supposed that it'd be the fact that he couldn't stay up restless and lovesick all night long if he was passed out from playing video games too late into the evening.

He was wrong, though. Even staying up until 1 am and quitting out of sheer exhaustion, Ryou still tossed and turned in bed for over an hour before finally nodding off.

It rained the next day. Ryou walked home from work beneath a large umbrella. He liked the rain most of the time, but in his current, tired, lonely, I-don't-get-to-see-Seto-until-tomorrow mindset, Ryou hated the gray sky and the puddles that splashed up past his shoes and soaked his wool socks. When he got home Tuesday night, Ryou slung his wet clothes to the floor near the door and dropped to the couch, wrapping himself in a blanket he'd used the night before while playing videogames on his laptop.

Before nodding off, he managed to text Seto that he was taking a nap, so that Seto didn't wonder why Ryou wasn't online to play. Then, instead of sleeping, he somehow found himself in a text conversation with Seto instead. He'd close his eyes and dose between each beep, but always jerked awake to reply to whatever Seto said.

He almost asked, asked if he could just visit a night early. He felt like a third grader trying to manipulate a sleepover with a friend. He also felt like an idiot for being a grown man that didn't like to sleep alone. How had he done it for the rest of his life? Ryou thought about it behind closed eyelids. The more he thought about it, the more he realized that he never really  _had_  slept all that well. He was always finding excuses to stay awake; horror movies, Monster World campaigns, his job. It wasn't until the last month that he really felt at ease enough to sleep well, and those were on the nights he was with Seto.

Ryou realized he hadn't checked his phone in a while. He looked, but there was no new messages from Seto. Sighing, Ryou knew that he needed to sleep, but a part of him wished Seto would text him something, anything at all, so he had an excuse to keep their conversation going.

He fell asleep anyway, too exhausted to fight it. The couch helped, too small and narrow to feel as lonely as an entire bed. A knock ripped Ryou from heavy sleep. He wiped his mouth, drool tickling the corner of his lips, and pulled the blanket around his waist. "Who is it?" Ryou called.

He hadn't gotten a visitor in a long time. Not since the last time Yugi came by.

"It's me."

Ryou's breath caught in his throat when he heard the soft, muffled voice on the other side of the door. The blanket dropped, leaving Ryou naked in his own living room. He checked the peephole, as if he couldn't trust his ears, and saw Seto standing in the hallway.

Ryou opened the door. "Seto? You're soaked! Are you okay?"

A tired smile graced Seto's lips. He had bags under his eyes much like Ryou did although they blended with his complexion a little better than Ryou's did.

"I couldn't . . . wait."

Ryou beckoned for Seto to come into his living room, shutting the door before someone noticed Ryou standing naked in front of another man. "Are you okay?"

"I don't know," Seto answered. "I was texting you, and then I was looking at the hedge garden - and I started running. I didn't tell anyone. I didn't know where I was going. I just started running, and then I was knocking on the door."

Ryou was smiling, panting for breath between upturned lips. He stepped closer, combing bone-white fingers through soaked, chestnut hair. "J-just to see me? You ran all that way in the rain?"

Seto answered with a kiss. His lips were cold. His hands were frozen. Ryou started peeling layers of wet, heavy fabric from Seto's body. Seto shivered, and once his clothes were in a damp heap next to Ryou's, Ryou wrapped both their bodies in his blanket, trying to warm Seto with covers, with his fingertips, and with his lips.

"I can't stand the off nights," Ryou whispered.

"I know." Seto traced Ryou's bottom lip with his tongue.

"I don't sleep without you." Ryou sucked on Seto's top lip.

Seto pulled away to press his lips against Ryou's ear. "Then sleep with me every night."

They started grinding against one another, no longer cold, hot needs gliding together. Ryou realized they weren't making it to the bedroom or to the lube, so he grabbed them both, spreading precum across their tips with his thumb as his fingers flourished up and down their shafts.

"We'll get caught," Ryou still whispered, as if speaking the words any louder would send them straight to the media. "If I move in with you, someone will find out."

Seto's hand joined Ryou's beneath the blanket. He caged their fingers together, helping Ryou stroke until they were both writhing against each other. A moment before climax, as everything seemed to expand and swell with the oncoming, blissful inevitability of orgasm, Seto's fervent blue eyes bore into Ryou's. "Let's risk it."

* * *


End file.
